Jasprit Bumrah Shines as India Take Opening-Day Honours in the 1st Test Against South Africa

India dominated the first day of the Eden Gardens test against South Africa. Their star bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, kept the visitors under pressure, as he took five wickets in the first innings to showcase his bowling masterclass. Due to the relentless pressure exerted by India, South Africa managed to score just 159 in the first innings of the Eden Gardens test.

Batting first, the visitors faced plenty of difficulty while trying to negate the bowling attack of India. Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton started the innings cautiously, knowing that the pitch could offer some assistance to the bowlers early on. They were going along nicely until Bumrah’s special deliveries removed both in successive overs.

After that, Kuldeep Yadav came into the game and removed the South African captain, Temba Bavuma, for just 3 runs. This wicket was a big blow for the visitors, as they were relying on Bavuma to score big in the first innings. After that, India seized the opportunity and took regular wickets to halt the charge of South African batters.

As a result, the strike rotation became very difficult for the Proteas, as Mohammed Siraj also came into action by sending back Kyle Verreynne and Marco Jansen quickly. The tail of the South African batting lineup also couldn’t withstand the pressure, and hence, the whole innings of the visitors ended at just 159 runs.

This below-par first-innings performance would have hurt South Africa’s plans, as they were aiming to score at least 300 in the first innings of the Kolkata Test.

Jasprit Bumrah remained the star performer for the hosts, as he took another five-wicket haul in test matches to give India an early edge in the game.

The batting of India then started, and they lost the in-form Yashasvi Jaiswal very early. His wicket gave South Africa a hope to make more inroads. However, KL Rahul and Washington Sundar absorbed the pressure perfectly. They remained at the crease until the end of the day, giving India a strong platform to resume batting with confidence tomorrow.