South Africa vs India 2018: 5 talking points from the Newlands Test

AB de Villiers in a different league

South Africa Captain Faf du Plessis must have been a worried man after electing to bat first on an overcast morning at Newlands. Inside 5 overs, the home side realised that this Indian bowling attack was very different to the teams that had toured the Rainbow Nation earlier. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was making the ball talk and had reduced South Africa to 12-3. At that point, the whole of South Africa would have hoped for someone to play the old fashioned Test match batting, absorbing the pressure and wearing out the opposition bowlers.

But AB de Villiers chose to counte- attack and in one over delivered by the bowler who was doing all the damage, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, he scored 4 boundaries and showed the world he belonged to a different league.

The South African superstar, who returned to Test cricket after a break, hit two cover drives and hammered two slightly short ones through the point region to show his intent. Along with du Plessis, the pair put on 112 runs for the fourth wicket and in the end, the partnership had a huge impact in the outcome of the Test.