JOHANNESBURG: The Bullring can be intimidating when full. Thanks to a Wednesday start, the Corlett Drive leading to the stadium had more crowd than inside. But the green pitch looked scary even from a distance. And it was understandable why South Africa and India went for five seam bowling options at the expense of a spinner. It was definitely not the kind of surface that Indian batsmen would have been eager to take first strike on, given the form they are in.
But captain Virat Kohli doesn’t shy away from bold decisions. Perhaps, the decision to bat was based on Wanderer’s character, where the pitch is more in favour of bowlers on Days 2 and 3. Whatever the reason, the pitch demanded grit and resistance. But barring Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli, the rest hardly showed any of it, as India handed South Africa the first day’s honours by getting all out for 187, losing eight wickets for 100 runs. But it is not going to be easy for the hosts on Thursday.
“I think we will be looking below 150. Looking at our total, the second innings will be important. On this wicket our bowlers will bowl better lengths as they are used to such conditions and it is their natural length that troubles the batsmen here. So we definitely back our bowlers to do the job for us tomorrow morning,” Pujara said.
The first session was the most challenging for batsmen in this series so far. The new ball swung and seamed 1.03° and 1.04°, respectively, much more than in the first two Tests. In the first session at Cape Town, it was 0.66° and 0.63°, while it was 1.07° and 0.54° at Centurion. “It is the toughest wicket I have played on. It deviates a lot,” said Pujara, who played 179 balls for 50, after taking 54 balls to get off the mark.
The day began with Vernon Philander bowling one of those spells where on any other day, he would have accounted for many more wickets. His opening burst read 8-7-1-1, with KL Rahul the man dismissed caught by Quinton de Kock through an inside-edge. With Murali Vijay falling soon after, the job was over to Pujara and Kohli, who displayed contrasting styles.
For a batsmen like Pujara, this wasn’t the sort of surface where runs would come easily. It needed patience to wait for the right deliveries and survive the ones that tested his technique. Right through the period where he took 54 balls to score his first run, not once he played away from the body.
He mostly played for the in-swinger and played the line of the ball as Philander & Co kept beating his edge. “It was really tough, especially in the first session. There is seam movement and bounce. On this wicket it is impossible to bat without being beaten. I won’t say it was a struggle. You have to accept that there are balls that will beat the edge. You need to take your time, get used to the bounce and lateral movement.”
If Pujara built his innings brick by brick, Kohli took his chances. With luck going his way — he was dropped on 11 and 32 — he wasn’t afraid to play flashy shots that he seldom does. It needed courage to even play shots, but whenever bowlers erred by pitching it too full, he brought his drives into play. “I don't think anybody else could have batted like this on this wicket. He was the in-form batsman, so he played the shots. That is the other way of doing it on a surface like this,” Pujara said.
Though South African bowlers shared the wickets, they were also guilty of not bowling a fuller length and making the batsmen drive. Though the good length tested batsmen repeatedly, chances of the ball not finding the edge too were high as it was evident throughout the day.
At times in the second session, they even bowled short and Pujara was quick to make full use of them. South Africa got five wickets from good length deliveries, while two came via half-volleys as they pitched 64.3 per cent of their deliveries in these areas.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, in the six overs they bowled, pitched 62 per cent of deliveries short of good length, which is ideal for these conditions.
venkatakrishna@newindianexpress.com