Johannesburg: Duane Olivier dismissed out-of-form batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane in successive deliveries as India, playing without Virat Kohli, clashed with South Africa here on Monday. On the first day of the second cricket test, he was in trouble for 53 for three by lunch.
Olivier, who had given up hope of playing for England, came out to play the first Test for South Africa after three years and he caught Rahane (00) at slip on the next ball after dismissing Pujara (three runs in 33 balls) on a bouncing ball. Got it done Caretaker captain Lokesh Rahul (19 runs in 84 balls) and Hanuma Vihari (04) were at the crease, leading the Indian Test team for the first time at lunch. Rahul won the toss and decided to bat first.
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Olivier shared the new ball with Kagiso Rabada. Mayank Agarwal (26) looked in good shape in the first hour as he hit five fours. However, he was caught by wicketkeeper Kyle Verne in an attempt to drive off Marco Jensen’s off-side delivery. There was a credible appeal for a catch and leg before against Rahul but debut umpire Alahudin Palekar impressed and delivered brilliant decisions.
India did not have a good start to the match when regular skipper Virat Kohli was ruled out of the match due to a tightness in his upper back. Rahul decided to bat first in difficult conditions and along with Agarwal kept the hosts’ bowlers from success in the first hour.
As long as these two were at the crease, the opening pair, like Centurion, looked quite good. Pujara was once again struggling to score runs. He looked uncomfortable against the bouncing balls and was eventually dismissed on a similar delivery by Olivier. Rahane tried to tamper with the very first ball outside the off-stump by Olivier and he had to bear the brunt of it returning to the pavilion. Keegan Pietersen took his easy catch at slips. (agency)