Indian opener Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal will look to continue their form with the bat when they head into the field on the second day of the opening Test of the three-match series against South Africa at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
Here are the live updates:
# Agarwal and Sharma have walked down the crease to resume India’s first innings. Philander to open the attack for South Africa on Day 2.
# The players of the two teams are out on the field and are warming up before the play.
# After rain forced an early stumps on Day 1, the play will begin 10 minutes early today while the second session will be extended by 20 minutes in order to make up for the time lost. A total of 98 overs will be bowled today.
# The second day’s play will begin shortly!
How much more can the Indian batsmen post on the board? Will #TeamIndia bowlers come into play later in the day? Lots to look forward on Day 2 in Vizag #INDvSA @Paytm pic.twitter.com/ZVvVYTXdgL
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 3, 2019
Sharma smashed a blistering unbeaten knock of 115 runs while Agarwal well-supported him with an unbeaten 84-run knock as India reached 202/0 before rain played the spoilsport and forced an early stumps on the opening day of the first Test against South Africa on Wednesday.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, India made a perfect start to their first innings as Sharma and Agarwal shone with the bat and shared a 200-plus partnership to put their side in a commanding position at the end of Day 1.
Sharma,who fell for a duck during the practice game for Board President’s XI against South Africa, had a dream debut in his first Test as the opener as he first pulled back his 11th Test half-century before notching up his fourth hundred in the longest format of the game off 154 balls.
By scoring a ton, Sharma also became the seventh batsman in the world to hit a hundred as an opener in each format of the game after West Indies’ Chris Gayle, New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum, New Zealand’s Martin Guptill, Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan, Pakistan’s Ahmed Shehzad, Australia’s Shane Watson and Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal.
Sharma also became the first player from the country to score a century in all three formats of the game as an opener.
India are looking to begin their home leg of the ICC World Test Championship on a promising note when they lock horns with South Africa in the opening Test. The Virat Kohli are currently standing at the top of the World Test Championship points table with 120 points after clinching the two-match series against West Indies 2-0 last month.
Meanwhile, South Africa—who will be playing their first match since the retirement of Dale Steyn and Hashim Amla—are eyeing to kick start their Test Championship campaign on a winning note.
India had sealed the four-match Test series 3-0 when South Africa had last toured the country in 2015.
Source: Zee News