India looked to be holding a slight advantage over the Proteas at the end of Day 1 of the Nagpur test . Off-spinner Simon Harmer took four wickets while paceman Morne Morkel bagged three as South Africa skittled India for 215 on the opening day of the third Test on Wednesday.
The visitors, however, surrendered the advantage of winning the toss and batting as they lost opener Stiaan van Zyl for a duck to off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and nightwatchman Imran Tahir soon followed bowled by Ravindra Jadeja to slump to 11-2 at stumps.
Dean Elgar (seven) and captain Hashim Amla (nought) were unbeaten at stumps on Day 1 .South Africa are still 204 runs behind .
India captain Virat Kohli opted to bat first after winning the toss at the VCA Stadium with the pitch expected to assist the spinners . But early strikes from Morne Morkel and Harmer, who returned to the side after playing the opening Test in Mohali, eroded most of the advantage Virat Kohli thought they had by batting first. Jadeja (34) and Saha (32) combined for a crucial 48-run stand to ensure the hosts had a competitive total in what appears to be a low-scoring match after India were reduced to 125-6 at one stage. The surface provided prodigious turn for the spinners from the first session , and it seemed it will only deteriorate with the passage of time . It will not be extremely difficult for South Africa, especially on a track which has already seen spinners from both sides claim eight out of the 12 wickets to fall on the opening day. Part-time left-arm spinner Elgar broke India’s opening stand by getting rid of Shikhar Dhawan (12) after the left-hander added 50 with Murali Vijay. Dhawan advanced down the wicket but could only manage to spoon the ball back to the bowler, who took a smart diving catch. Vijay (40), India’s top scorer, looked in control before he was done in by a Morkel delivery that straightened after pitching to hit the batsman plumb in front of the wicket. Morkel, leading the South African pace attack in absence of injured team mate Dale Steyn, beat Kohli (22) several times before inducing an edge from the right-hander which was pouched by wicketkeeper Dane Vilas. Ajinkya Rahane (13) struggled throughout his stay at the crease and played an expansive drive off Morkel to be clean bowled. Harmer sent back Pujara (21) and Rohit ( 02) .It was yet another failure for the Mumbai batsman . Harmer also dismissed Saha who was caught acrobatically by JP Duminy at short mid-wicket. Both sides went in with an extra spinner for the match with India opting for leg-spinner Amit Mishra and South Africa adding Harmer to their line-up. The first session tomorrow will be extremely crucial for the Proteas as they will require a big partnership to bell them out of the current situation .