India made 280 runs in first inning against South Africa

South Africa bundle out India for 280 runs on Day 2 in first Test

NEW DELHI: Vernon Philander snared four wickets and Morne Morkel took three, as South Africa bundled out India for 280 runs in their first innings on the second day of the first Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Scorecard

India lost their last five wickets for just 25 runs as the Proteas pacers altered their lengths, taking full advantage of an overcast morning.

Morkel dismissed Indian captain MS Dhoni before Philander got rid of Ajinkya Rahane and Zaheer Khan off consecutive deliveries.

Morkel had Indian captain MS Dhoni caught behind by AB de Villiers in the ninth over of the day.

Morkel lured Dhoni on to the front foot with a length ball just outside off, the Indian captain got only half-forward as he poked at it and ended up edging the ball through to the keeper.

In the next over, Philander too had Rahane (47) caught behind and on the next delivery trapped Zaheer plumb in front of the wicket for a first ball duck.

India then lost their ninth wicket when Philander clean bowled Ishant Sharma with an incoming delivery.

The day's play started with Rahane and Dhoni resuming the Indian first innings.

On Day 1, centurion Virat Kohli and the determination of the new-look middle-order ensured that India reached 255/5 by stumps.

There was an intent shown by every Indian batsman to honour Dhoni's bold move to bat first on a bouncy track with a tinge of green. Even the openers Shikhar Dhawan (13) and M Vijay (6) looked to leave a lot of balls, something that they had worked on over the last one week.

Dhawan, though, threw it away trying a hook off Steyn with both deep square-leg and deep fine-leg back. Morne Morkel, coming in one change, bowled a few short ones to push Vijay on the backfoot and then pitched one up to induce the nick.

Cheteshwar Pujara took the brunt of the South African pacers as Kohli looked to express himself. But the best thing about the 89-run partnership that lasted 27 overs was the level-headed approach of the two batsmen. Both left a lot of deliveries on length, forcing the South African pacemen to change the off-stump line. The Kookaburra ball was also losing its nip and it allowed both Kohli and Pujara to take control.

A horrible mix-up led to Pujara's run out but by then the initial storm had blown over. Kohli had settled down very well and was looking equally comfortable both on the front and back foot. He was not playing at anything outside the off-stump and was choosy about playing the hook shot. He played the hook only when he was in line, thus ensuring that he had the shot always under control.

Rohit Sharma (14) was also looking good, but the habit of playing far away from his body led to his downfall. He nicked a well-pitched up delivery off Vernon Philander and the AB de Villiers didn't make any mistake.

But Kohli at the other end was unstoppable and reached his fifth Test ton.