Kolkata: Mohammed Siraj’s incisive double strike deepened South Africa’s troubles as India tightened their hold on the opening Test, reducing the visitors to 154 for 8 at tea on day one, Friday.
After an expensive first spell, Siraj came back strongly, breaking open the lower middle order in his 10th over with two wickets in four balls—dismissing Kyle Verreynne and Marco Jansen. Verreynne (16), dropped twice in the 34th over, fell after the ball hit pad and then bat, with South Africa losing their final review in the process. Jansen (0) was bowled by a sharp reversing delivery that nipped back through the gate.
Just before tea, Axar Patel opened his account by trapping Corbin Bosch (3) lbw, putting India in a position to consider batting on the opening day despite Shubman Gill losing the toss again.
The session had begun with Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah continuing their disciplined spells. Kuldeep kept the batters guessing with drift, dip and subtle variations, while earlier Wiaan Mulder and Tony de Zorzi attempted to steady the innings after early setbacks. Mulder resisted for over 50 balls before falling to a failed reverse sweep against Kuldeep.
Bumrah struck soon after lunch, removing the in-form de Zorzi (24) following an outstanding first spell of 7-4-9-2.
In the morning, Bumrah had set the tone with two unplayable deliveries to remove openers Aiden Markram (31) and Ryan Rickelton (23) after South Africa’s brisk start at 57 for no loss. Kuldeep then dismissed skipper Temba Bavuma (3) as India took firm control before lunch and tightened their grip by tea.
