Delhi: The first day of the first Test match between India and South Africa at Eden Gardens, Kolkata was in the name of the bowlers. The day’s play had to be stopped early due to bad light and the umpires took the reading from the light meter and declared the day over.

South Africa’s batting failed

South Africa’s first innings ended at 159 runs, in which the Indian fast bowlers performed brilliantly. Jasprit Bumrah gave a big blow to the visiting team by taking 5 wickets with his sharp bowling. He never allowed South Africa to settle down, taking wickets with both the new and old balls. Mohammad Siraj was a little out of rhythm in the beginning, but after the ball reverse swung, he also took two important wickets.

Among the spinners, Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets and Akshar Patel took one wicket. The bounce on the pitch was uneven throughout the innings and the ball remained low at times. The light dust raised on Maharaj’s ball in the last over also showed that this pitch is not going to be easy for the batsmen.

India 122 runs behind

India started cautiously in the first innings and lost one wicket after scoring 37 runs in 20 overs at stumps. Yashasvi Jaiswal was bowled by Marco Jansen after scoring 12 runs. KL Rahul is unbeaten on 13 runs and Washington Sundar is at the crease with him after scoring 6 runs.

India is currently 122 runs behind South Africa and the team’s aim on the second day will be to strengthen the partnership first.

It is worth noting that more wickets had fallen only once on the first day of a Test match at Eden Gardens, when 13 wickets fell between India and Bangladesh in the 2019 Pink Ball Test.