Ideally, South Africa being all out for 55 should have been the headline of the day but wait, India’s innings imploded inside 11 deliveries in the third session of the opening day, leaving them all out for 153, but more importantly after gaining a substantial 98-run first innings lead in the second Test.

While the bowlers made amends in Cape Town, the batting department that lasted a combined of little over 100 overs in Centurion, once again disappointed as only three Indian batters managed to cross the double digits, taking India to 153.

The Indian team would be cursing themselves for squandering a decent start provided by a 55-run second wicket partnership by skipper Rohit Sharma (39) and Shubman Gill (36) that took them to a comfortable 105 for 3 after the first 20 overs before the South African pacers unleashed the carnage.

Virat Kohli (46), the third batter to reach the double digits, offered some late resistance before losing his partners, eventually falling short of a half century.

In one of the most ordinary displays of batting, the visitors went from being 153 for 4 at the start of the 34^th over to 153 all out with a ball to go in the 36^th. It started with Lungi Ngidi breaking the 43-run partnership between KL Rahul and Virat Kohli by dismissing the former off the second ball of the 34th and then dismissing Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah for ducks.

Then Kohli fell to Rabada off the first ball of the next over on 46 after which Siraj was run out after a mix-up with Prasidh Krishna. Krishna himself then fell to Rabada off the fifth ball of that over.

Ngidi, who returned after a long injury lay-off, looked pedestrian in his first spell, but returned with a triple-wicket maiden to turn things around for his side after left-arm pacer Nandre Burger set the tone with another three-wicket burst in the second session to keep the Indian batters on their toes.

Kagiso Rabada, the pace spearhead was equally effective on the day, cleaning up the tail and ended up with three wickets.

Elgar walks off to standing ovation; SA lose 3 to trail by 36 at stumps

South Africa’s stand-in captain Dean Elgar walked off to a standing ovation from the Indian dressing room as he started taking the long walk back to the dressing room for one last time in Test whites.

Returning to bat a second time on the day, the hosts went unscathed through the first 10 overs, but in the next over Mukesh Kumar managed to break the 37-run opening partnership by inducing Elgar to nick off to Kohli at first slip.

And as Elgar, the last link to the South African team that became and stayed No.1 in the early 2010s, started leaving the crease after scoring 12 in his last Test innings, Kohli, Bumrah and Mukesh walked up to Elgar to congratulate him on a wonderful career.

Interestingly, Elgar, who scored his first Test runs at Newlands also played his last Test innings at the same venue in a fitting tribute to the format he has excelled in at the ground that hosted South Africa for more Tests than any other.

In an era where more and more players turn to T20 leagues for bigger pay cheques, Elgar may be the last of those, who has been consistently playing red-ball cricket, and his retirement from Test cricket certainly marks the end of an era in South African cricket.

Coming back to the match, the hosts lost two more wickets on the day, taking the count to 23 wickets on day 1 of the Test. Mukesh got rewarded for keeping things tight from his end as de Zorzi perished after nicking one behind and soon Bumrah made it a forgettable debut for Tristan Stubbs, falling to superb low catch by Rahul.

At the other end, Aiden Markram held his fort, scoring an unbeaten 36 with David Bedingham giving him company at 7 not out, as South Africa reached 62 for 3 at stumps.