India have certainly given themselves a chance to win the match, and with it, the series. They have captured two South African wickets. Despite not scoring too many runs, they scored 215, which is the highest score in the series so far. They have given themselves a chance simply because there is turn on this pitch. This is not a pitch where there is turn and bounce because the ball is keeping low. It makes batting difficult as batsmen don’t know what is going to happen. With the bounce you can take the ball on your body or even shoulder arms, but when the ball keeps low, you could be in front of the wicket and get out lbw. I think that is what happened to Cheteshwar Pujara.
You got to give credit to the South African pacers for the way they bowled on a pitch which was totally against them. There was no carry and bounce, but the way Morne Morkel bowled was fantastic. At the start of the innings they bowled too short, maybe because of the team’s tactics to bowl short at the Indian batsmen. But when the ball is hard and new, you get it to swing in the air or off the pitch.
Later on, when Morkel came for the second spell, he got the ball to cut, bowled a much fuller length and was rewarded with three wickets. Kagiso Rabada made sure the pressure was kept from one end. The South African pacers did a yeoman job for their team.
The partnership (48 runs) between Ravindra Jadeja and Wriddhiman Saha got India out of a hole. If India had been dismissed for 175, it would have created a problem for them but those extra 40 runs will certainly stand the Indian team in good stead. They have got the bowlers to exploit the pitch. South Africa don’t have the batting to cope with that unless Hashim Amla regains form and AB de Villiers plays a champion innings. At the end of Day 1 in Nagpur, India are on top.
