South Africa vs India 2018, 1st Test: What went wrong for the visitors

#4 Shami and Bumrah couldn’t capitalize on the good start on Day 1

Bumrah disappointed on the first day.

South Africa won the toss and surprised a few by electing to bat first on a spicy pitch which had a greenish look. Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave India an excellent start as he rattled the Proteas with three quick wickets at the start.

However, the much-hyped Indian seam bowling attack, which consisted Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah (who was a surprise selection), couldn’t quite back up the excellent spell from Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Both of them were disappointing as they gave freebies (boundary balls) almost every over. Both Bumrah and Shami couldn’t keep up the early pressure created by Bhuvneshwar.

Shami, in particular, lacked intensity. He just didn’t steam in as he usually does. He didn’t complement Bhuvneshwar well with the new ball and looked completely out of rhythm. This also resulted in Kohli not giving him the new ball in the second innings. Hence, it allowed South Africa to get away from 12/3 and reach 107/3 at Lunch as AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis batted well and also feasted on some loose bowling.