New Delhi:
India won the toss and chose to bat on a sporting wicket at the MCA stadium in Pune. This was Virat Kohli's 50th Test as captain and both Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma started cautiously. South Africa bowled in the right channels and Kagiso Rabada got the big wicket of Rohit Sharma for 14. Cheteshwar Pujara and Mayank Agarwal steadied the ship and batted with superb application. Mayank Agarwal notched up his second century while Pujara and Virat Kohli smashed centuries to help India end the day on 273/3 against South Africa.
16:43 hrs IST: That is stumps on day 1. Virat Kohli is unbeaten on 63 and India end on 273/3. However, Agarwal's century highlights the dominance.
16:20 hrs IST: FIFTY! 23rd for Virat Kohli and he gets there with two boundaries off Vernon Philander. India are 257/3. Superb effort by the Indian cricket team skipper.
15:44 hrs IST: Kohli and Rahane are making slow progress. Conditions are becoming gloomy. At this point, Pune has seen rains regularly in the past one week. India 219/3.
15:20 hrs IST: Rabada and Kohli are engaged in an epic duel. The best bowler in the world versus the best batsman in the world currently playing out in Pune. India are 200/3.
15:05 hrs IST: WICKET! Kagiso Rabada takes his third. Once again in that channel outside off, Agarwal pokes at it but the extra bounce results in an outside edge and the catch is taken by Faf du Plessis at slip. India 198/3. Agarwal does not want to go but he walks away bitterly disappointed.
14:47 hrs IST: CENTURY! Brilliant from Mayank Agarwal. He notches up his second ton and he continues his great form, having blasted 215 in the Vizag Test. India 189/2.
14:13 hrs IST: That is tea on day 1. India are 168/2 and Mayank Agarwal is unbeaten on 86. However, South Africa would have gotten a big boost with the wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara for 58 at the stroke of the interval.
14:03 hrs IST: WICKET! Superb stuff from Rabada. Good length ball slanted in close to the off stump, Pujara pokes at it and the edge flies to slip where Faf du Plessis falls to his left to take a good catch. Pujara out for 58 and India are 163/2.
13:57 hrs IST: Pujara cracks two boundaries and he has notched up his 22nd fifty. Superb effort by the Saurashtra Wall and India are 156/1.
13:38 hrs IST: Cheteshwar Pujara hits a big six. Nowadays, he is into six-hitting a lot. India are 140/1, with Pujara nearing a fifty
13:29 hrs IST: Agarwal slams two boundaries off Anrich Nortje and the century partnership is up between him and Pujara. Nortje is trying the short pitched bowling from round the wicket but it is not working for the time being. India are 130/1.
13:05 hrs IST: Agarwal and Pujara's partnership is nearing a century and India are 110/1. South Africa struggling for the breakthrough.
12:47 hrs IST: FIFTY! Mayank Agarwal continues his magnificent form as he notches up his fourth fifty. India are 101/1 vs South Africa.
12:32 hrs IST: Mayank Agarwal is looking positive after the lunch break. He nears his fifty with a couple of boundaries while Pujara is giving him good support. India 91/1.
11:34 hrs IST: That is lunch on day 1 of the Pune Test and both India and South Africa will be pleased. Mayank Agarwal has been solid but Kagiso Rabada got the wicket of Rohit Sharma. India are 77/1 and the stand between Pujara and Agarwal has crossed 50.
11:26 hrs IST: Muthusamy misfields and allows the pressure to be released. South Africa need to tighten up. India are 73/1.
11:18 hrs IST: Rabada is bowling a superb spell and he beats Agarwal with an outswinger outside off. India are 68/1 and with lunch approaching, they would not want to lose a wicket.
11:05 hrs IST: This is disciplined bowling from South Africa. Agarwal and Pujara are making decent progress. India are 60/1.
10:47 hrs IST: Agarwal slams three boundaries in one over of Nortje as India look to stage a revival. India 49/1.
10:34 hrs IST: Nortje and Rabada are bowling at pace. Agarwal and Cherteshwar Pujara are withstanding the onslaught and India reach 36/1.
10:25 hrs IST: A full ball from Nortje after the bouncer, but Agarwal is not sucked into the trap and he creams a boundary. India are 34/1.
10:21 hrs IST: BANG! Nortje hits Agarwal on the helmet with a bouncer close to 90 mph. The impact is such that it ricochets away to the boundary. Agarwal is getting the mandatory two-minute concussion test and he has been cleared to resume batting. India are 29/1.
10:16 hrs IST: WICKET! Superb bowling from Kagiso Rabada. Back of a length ball angled in on middle and off, it zips through and Rohit is caught on the crease, he edges it to Quinton de Kock and falls for 14. India are 25/1.
10:10 hrs IST: Rohit gets another boundary as he moves into double figures. Anrich Nortje is into the attack and he is bowling with good pace. He gets Agarwal to edge a full ball but it flies between keeper and first slip for a risky boundary. India are 23/0.
09:55 hrs IST: Loud appeal for an LBW but not given. Philander gets this ball to nip back in from a good length and Agarwal plays inside the line of the delivery to get hit on the front pad. South Africa appeal but the umpire gives it not out. South Africa take the review but replays show the impact and wickets is umpire's call and thus the review stays but the decision is not overturned. India are 13/0.
09:50 hrs IST: Agarwal steers a shortish ball past gully for the first boundary of the Test match. India are 12/0.
09:40 hrs IST: Kagiso Rabada strays into the pads of Rohit who flicks this length delivery away for three runs to deep midwicket. India are 5/0.
09:36 hrs IST: Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal get off the mark with a single but Vernon Philander is getting enough seam movement to beat Agarwal twice on the outside egde. India are 2/0.
09:07 hrs IST: There are some team changes in this match. Hanuma Vihari is out due to an injury and Umesh Yadav comes into the side. For South Africa, Anrich Nortje is making his Test debut and Dane Piedt misses out. Here are the playing XIs of both the sides.
South Africa: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Theunis de Bruyn, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Senuran Muthusamy, Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje
India: Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami
09:02 hrs IST: India have chosen to bat against South Africa in the Pune Test. It is a dry pitch and the first two days will be excellent to bat on. Due to the persistent rains, the outfield is a bit soft and soggy and there might be a delayed start.
08:55 hrs IST: A warm welcome to the second Test between India and South Africa from the MCA Stadium in Pune. India will be looking to clinch the series while South Africa will be looking to exploit India's weakness at this venue, where they do not have a good record.
