With the Boxing Day Test between South Africa and India was delayed due to rain in Centurion, the groundsmen used the hair dryer to cure a wet patch on the pitch on Tuesday, December 26.
The persistent rain in Centurion led the toss to be delayed by half an hour. The groundmen were working hard to ensure that there's no further delay in beginning of the 1st Test between South Africa and India.
In order to quickly dry the pitch before beginning of the Day 1, groundsman used the hair dryer which might have helped them to remove the wet patch on the pitch that was affected due to rain.
Groundman in Centurion using the hair dryer to cure the wet wet |
Meanwhile, South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and decided to bat first. David Bedingham and Nandre Burger received Test debut caps.
For India, Prasidh Krishna has made his Test debut against Proteas. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the 1st Test due to back spasm, thus Ravichandran Ashwin was selected to play in the Test series. Skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah are playing their first match for Team India after the World Cup final defeat last month.
India suffer an early collapse on Day 1 of first Test
After putting to bat first by South Africa, India lost an early wicket in skipper Rohit Sharma for 5, dismissed by Kagiso Rabada at 13/1.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was looking to take charge of India's batting after Rohit's dismissal, fell for 17 runs. He smashed four boundaries before he was dismissed was Test debutant Nandre Burger.
Then, Shubman Gill failed to deliver with the bat as he was dismissed cheaply for 2 by Nandre Burger.
After early collapse, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer revived India's batting and visitors are nearing 100 runs in the first innings. At the end of first session, India posted a total of 91/3, with Kohli and Iyer batting on 33 and 31, respectively.
