Wanderers Test: Virat Kohli cracks ton, India fight hard to reach 255/5 vs SA

Virat Kohli gave ample display of his class by cracking a fluent 119 as a gritty India produced a decent batting show on the opening day to leave the first cricket Test against South Africa evenly poised here today The 25yearold Kohli batting at the coveted number 4 position left vacant by retired batting icon Sachin Tendulkar notched up his fifth Test century to steer the visitors to a comfortable 255 for five at close on a bouncy Wanderers track Ajinkya Rahane 43 batting and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni 17 batting were at the crease on an eventful opening day which saw the beleaguered Indian batting lineup giving a good account of themselves despite their only warmup game being abandoned due to a wet outfield South African bowler Venon Philander and team mates celebrating the fall of Rohit Sharma39s wicket on the 1st day of the cricket Test Match South Africa vs India at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Wednesday PicAFP Kohli stole the thunder on the first day as he displayed wonderful counterattacking ability with dazzling array of strokes all round the wicket after openers Shikhar Dhawan 13 and Murali Vijay 6 were dismissed cheaply by Dale Steyn 156 and Morne Morkel 127 within 151 overs Kohli India39s premier batsman hit 18 sweetly timed boundaries in his 181ball knock with the standout shot being a pull off the fast and furious Steyn He played some flowing drives played the square cut well and was severe on legspinner Imran Tahir who was repeatedly pulled towards the deep midwicket boundary Kohli39s shot selection was admirable as he was ready to leave a lot of deliveries but didn39t forget to punish the loose balls Kohli reached his fifth Test hundred when he played offbreak bowler JeanPaul Duminy39s delivery towards midwicket for a couple before celebrating the milestone with a leap and punch of his fists in the air As he took charge of taking on the Proteas attack he was well complemented by Cheteshwar Pujara 25 during their 89run third wicket stand before he was unfortunately runout due to a horrible mixup Rahane playing only his second Test also showed good temperament during their fifthwicket stand of 68 runs as the young Mumbai batsman grew in confidence with passage of time Kohli was finally out giving a catch to Duminy at covers off Kallis39 bowling Each bowler of the South African pace quartet got a wicket eachu00a0 After Kohli39s dismissal Dhoni walked in and negated the second new ball taken immediately when due by the Proteas putting up 36 runs with Rahane for the unbroken sixth wicket stand taking India past the 250run mark in the 85th over Rahane hit seven fours in his 105ball knock with the best shot being a cover drive off Steyn when the latter was bowling with second new ball Apart from Steyn and Morkel Vernon Philander 145 and Jacques Kallis 137 got a wicket apiece with Imran Tahir 047 in 8 overs and Duminy 030 in 5 overs were disappointing The spin duo gave away 77 runs in 13 overs between them Kohli was given ample support in the final session of the day by Rahane who didn39t want to waste this chance Kohli39s 100 came off 140 balls with 16 hots to the fence In good batting conditions the two were watchful in the first hour after tea not wanting to lose anymore wickets There were a couple of played and missed chances particularly against Morkel who bowled his heart out with only a solitary wicket to show After reaching his century Kohli slowed down trying to play for time Rahane though kept up the tempo and together they brought up their 50run partnership in the 71st over It might have the final drinks break of the day that caused a break in Kohli39s concentration as he was out caught by Duminy playing a loose drive off Kallis He looked tired after a mammoth effort off 181 balls walking off to cheers from the sparse crowd and indeed from the Indian dressing room Earlier India had started postlunch on 70 for 2 with Kohli rebuilding the innings with Pujara They brought up their 50run partnership in the 30th over looking comfortable whilst leaving the ball and attacking with great caution Kohli scored at a quick clip attacking Tahir out of all bowlers It seemed like a specific plan of targeting him as he negated Smith39s bowling options as South Africa fell behind the overrate In Tahir39s second over of the day 39th of the innings Kohli completed his halfcentury He reached the mark off 76 balls with nine boundaries in all Together with Pujara Kohli helped India cross the 100run mark in the 40th but few minutes after that he was responsible in calling the former for a nonexistent run which lead to his unfortunate runoutu00a0 Virat Kohli celebrates after reaching his century at the Wanderers vs South Africa on Wednesday PicAFP At 1133 Rohit Sharma joined Kohli bringing up the 150 in the 43rd over They quickly put on 38 runs for the fourth wicket before the latter fell two overs before tea Rohit was out trying to drive Philander without much feet movement Rahane was in next and he took India to tea at 1644 with Kohli unbeaten on 84 In the morning session skipper Dhoni opted to bat first on what looked like a good track to take strike once the new ball was taken care of Vijay and Dhawan spend an uncomfortable first hour in the middle before making their way back The action began in the ninth over as Steyn dished out some short stuff to Dhawan The third ball of the over looped from Dhawan39s bat as he played a halfhearted pull and it went for four runs The fourth ball also short went off the handle and fell short of gully The fifth ball again short went down legside and the batsman made an attempt to play at it And then finally on the last ball of the over Dhawan was out caught fine leg by Imran Tahir as he mistimed a pullshot again India39s average opening stand since January 2011 has been 1596 and the poor trend continues Morne Morkel was introduced in the 12th over and he was a cause of concern for Vijay The Tamil Nadu opener edged one to third slip but playing with soft hands it didn39t carry properly In his next over Vijay had no clue about a short delivery as it made contact with the bat and looped to forward short leg falling just short of Hashim Amla39s reach It signalled the end of an uncomfortable first hour for India as they were placed at 241 Pujara negotiated the first over after drinks from Jacques Kallis without trouble but Vijay39s patience finally gave away as he edged a fuller delivery from Morkel trying to play a drive without any footwork India39s new No 4 Kohli39s first scoring shot was a beautiful pull off Kallis followed by a little streaky one off Morkel through third man for four Pujara in this interim was a little more secure He had fewer moments of doubt against the openers combined He brought up India39s 50 in the 25th over with a push to covers running for a quick single He hit two boundaries the first a delightful cut through point while the second one was cut over the slip cordon as skipper Graeme Smith had just taken off third manu00a0 India first innings M Vijay c de Villiers b Morkel 6 S Dhawan c Imran Tahir b Steyn 13 C Pujarau00a0run out Imran TahirAmla 25 Virat Kohli c Duminy b Kallis 119 Rohit Sharma c de Villiers b Philander 14 Ajinkya Rahane not out 43 MS Dhoni not out 17 Extras LB3 W14 NB1 18 Total for 5 wickets in 90 overs 255 Fall of wicketsn 117 224 3113 4151 5219 Bowling Steyn 235561 Philander 212551 Morkel 1910271 Kallis 144371 Tahir 80470 Duminy 50300u00a0 To bat R Ashwin I Sharma Zaheer Khan Mohammed Shami South Africa G Smith A Petersen H Amla J Kallis A de Villiers J Duminy F du Plessis V Philander D Steyn M Morkel Imran Tahir Toss India