It’s the final frontier for a reason! India skipper Rohit Sharma appeared clueless at the toss that was delayed due to some wet patches on the SuperSport Park outfield in Centurion, and once his South African counterpart Temba Bavuma put the visitors to bat under overcast conditions, pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada returned with a five-wicket haul to restrict the visitors to 208 for 8, built mainly around KL Rahul’s gritty half century as bad light and heavy showers forced an early stoppage of the opening day’s play on Boxing Day.

Rahul, who slammed a century as an opener when India toured South Africa the last time in 2021, batted out of his skin to reach an undefeated 70 in fiendishly difficult conditions against a potent attack, led by Rabada, who used the seaming conditions well in the first two sessions of the day.

Rabada, who hasn’t played any international cricket since an emotional World Cup semi-final exit in November, came up with his 14th five-wicket haul in just 61 Tests to match the legendary Shaun Pollock.

The right-arm quick was right on the money, right through the day, especially in the second session, and added to his collection the prized scalps of Virat Kohli (38) and Shreyas Iyer (31), this after the duo of Kohli and Iyer had steadied India’s ship with a vital 68-run fourth wicket partnership, to help the side head to the lunch break at 91 for 3. Rabada had earlier picked Rohit (5) in the first session.

However, right after the break, Rabada was unplayable and derailed the Indian middle order, first by dismantling the flourishing partnership between Iyer and Kohli, by bulldozing past Iyer’s bat and crashing into his castle.

Kohli, who looked in good nick till then had faced 63 deliveries, and struck five boundaries, including an exquisite cover drive, before falling to the 64th ball that pitched at good length and seamed away, just enough to beat the middle of the stick and took the edge for wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne to complete the rest.

Having got the three early breakthroughs of Rohit, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, in the opening session with short pitched stuff, South Africans changed their approach after the lunch break, and banked more on the fullish length, with Rabada reaping the rewards as he added two more wickets to his kitty.

Ravichandran Ashwin (8), with five Test hundreds to his name, could not offer much resistance to the South Africans, particularly Rabada, who ended his 11-ball stay for his fourth wicket. But Shardul Thakur (24) showed great courage despite being hit on the head from Gerald Coetzee and later on the arm from Rabada, played a few gutsy strokes to add 43 runs for the seventh wicket with KL Rahul, who looked in sublime form.

On his first Test outing as a wicketkeeper-batter, Rahul came in at No 6, and looked in firm control of the proceedings even as wickets kept tumbling at the other end. Rabada, already with five wickets under his belt, kept steaming in but Rahul was focused on the job, and didn’t let the pacer dictate terms. He went from strength to strength, initially to build his innings, and later guarding the tail from the bowlers’ onslaughts, as he went on to dispatch debutant Nandre Burger over point to bring up his half century.

Injury scare for Bavuma

The home captain, who returned to action after recovering from a right hamstring injury, pulled up another injury while fielding in the first session. According to Cricket South Africa, Bavuma was taken to the hospital for scans that revealed a left hamstring strain and he will undergo daily medical evaluations to determine his participation in the match.

The incident happened in the 20th over of India’s innings when Bavuma was forced to walk out of the field after pulling his hamstring while running to stop a cover drive from Kohli. Aiden Markram, the vice-captain, has assumed the captaincy duties in his absence.