AN INCH CLOSER BUT STILL MILES AWAY...

The series started exactly like everyone thought it would, with a green top. It clearly was a bowlers' paradise. Virat Kohli decided to go in with 5 batsmen and Hardik Pandya with Jasprit Bumrah making his debut. It was quite a bold selection. There was no room for Ajinkya Rahane which was a massive surprise for everyone. Later in the press conference Kohli went on to say that Rohit was picked ahead of Rahane on the basis of current form. Faf du Plessis made an interesting choice of batting first in dicy conditions. Bhuvaneswar Kumar gave India a dream start by picking Elgar, Amla and Markram in his first 3 overs. What followed was a brilliant counter attack from AB de Villiers which just grabbed the momentum away from India and South Africa ended up scoring 286 which was 40-50 more that what India might have expected. India had to play just around 12-13 overs in the final session and they lost a couple of wickets in quick succession. But the body blow came very late when Morne Morkel got the outside edge of Virat Kohli's bat, the wicket that India dearly wanted to protect. Second morning was a disaster untill Hardik Pandya played a scintillating attacking knock of 93 which included plenty of unorthodox and also a few classical shots. South Africa were leading by 142 with 8 wickets in hand at the end of Day 2. Rain had eluded the captonions but rain gods were pouring heavy showers on one of the most beautiful cities around the world. This might have been one of those rare occasions when rain didn't disappoint anyone because the game had moved on so quickly in the first two days. The pitch had spiced up and was ready to spring a surprise as India ran through the South African batting line up to bowl them out for 130. India were set a target of 208 which was a very difficult one considering the pitch and conditions but the only factor that gave India a bit of a breather was Dale Steyn's absence. Shikhar Dhawan and Murli Vijay got India off to a very good start before both of them fell along with Pujara to leave India tottering at 31-3. Kohli played quite positively but fell to a straight ball from Vernon Philander who was on absolutely spot on in his second spell. At 71-4, Kohli took the  India's hopes of registering a famous win in South Africa along with him. There wasn't anyone who could answer the lateral movement that Philander was producing. India were bowled out for 135 runs falling short by 72 runs. It might look as a small margin but falling short of as many runs chasing only about 200 is massive. Indian bowling looked quite sharp but India need something special at Centurion to turn the tide and level the series.