Five-Star Kagiso Rabada Rattles India As KL Rahul displays Grit On Rain-Hit Day

Kagiso Rabada was at his lethal best, knocking the stuffing out of India's batting ‘prima donnas' with a fifer on a track offering extra and variable bounce as South Africa took control of the proceedings on the opening day of the first Test on Tuesday. KL Rahul (70 batting, 105 balls) continued his love affair with Supersport Park, displaying excellent temperament on a difficult pitch taking India to 208 for 8 in 59 overs when rain forced early stumps. Rabada (5/44 in 17 overs) bowled two of the most intimidating and incisive spells witnessed in recent times to completely rock the Indian batting line-up, which struggled to cope with the conditions. One of the finest fast bowlers in contemporary cricket, Rabada bowled an absolute peach to dismiss Virat Kohli (38 off 64 balls) with the old ball after having bounced out Indian skipper Rohit Sharma (5) in his first spell.

In between, Shreyas Iyer (31 off 50 balls), who lived dangerously, got a shooter that completely exposed his defence.

Rabada's 14th five-wicket haul in Tests also comprised the scalp of Ravichandran Ashwin, who was flummoxed by the extra bounce, and Shardul Thakur (24), who after a gutsy effort was softened by a bouncer to be taken out with a length delivery later.

Rahul looked solid but is slowly running out of partners as a first innings score of 250 looks a distant reality now.

Rabada, who was given a break from white ball leg, didn't need time to hit the rhythm as he bowled long spells, got a disconcerting bounce along with late swing that had the Indian batters in a tangle.

The manner in which Kohli was forced into making a mistake was an education for young pacers.

Rabada bowled a couple of incoming deliveries to pin him on the backfoot and then