The hosts lost the toss but had a terrific session as their pacers wreaked havoc to leave India tottering at 52 for 3 at lunch on the opening day of the second Test match here at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
The second Test match started with the biggest surprise of the day with KL Rahul walking out for the toss instead of Indian Test captain Virat Kohli, who did not take the field due to an upper back spasm.
KL Rahul, who got the honour to captain the Indian Test team for the first time in the absence of Virat, won the toss and chose to bat first. Openers Rahul and Mayank Agarwal gave India a steady start as Kagiso Rabada and Duanne Olivier bowled full throttle from both ends.
Agarwal was more aggressive of the two openers pouncing on every scoring opportunity. The change of bowling finally worked for the Proteas as youngster Marco Jansen, who made his debut in Centurion, had Agarwal out caught behind by wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynne.
South Africans kept up the aggressive approach as Duanne Olivier removed out-of-form Cheteshwar Pujara for just 3. Extra bounce from Olivier resulted in the ball ballooning towards the point where Temba Bavuma took a regulation catch. In the next delivery, Olivier removed another out of form batter Ajinkya Rahane for a golden duck. Rahane became the 50th Test scalp for pacer Duanne Olivier leaving India tottering at 49 for 3.
India somehow scratched their way to the 50-run mark scoring 52 for 3 in the first session of the opening day in Johannesburg with captain KL Rahul batting on 19 and Hanuma Vihari on 4.
( With inputs from ANI )
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