There was some confusion on the field ahead of the start of South Africa’s second innings in the opening Test of the three-match series against India at the Supersport Park in Centurion over the new ball. The veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was seen inspecting the new ball in his hand but did not seem to be all that happy.
The Indian cricketers also gathered around the umpires and were seen talking to them. Apparently, the ball was not the same one that the Indian cricketers had picked at the start of the South African second innings. Here is the video of the incident:
What is happening? 😲 pic.twitter.com/CUst9Rz7Rj
— Sunaina Gosh (@Sunainagosh7) December 29, 2021
The 4th umpire then came out with a ball box and the Indian cricketers then picked their new ball ahead of the South African innings. As a result of that, lay was halted for a few minutes due to this incident. After India set a target of 305, South African openers Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar came out to bat on a promising note. Jasprit Bumrah was handed the new ball, but there was a bit of a hold-up.
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Explaining the scenarios, R Ashwin said, “We didn’t pick the ball.” Indian captain Virat Kohli immediately joined the protest and the on-field umpires called for the box of new balls. The convention is that the fielding team gets the opportunity to pick the new ball at the start of their bowling innings from a dozen presented to them.
India gets a new ball finally 😅 pic.twitter.com/99z1mSFcgs
— Rohan Gulaty (@rohan_gulaty) December 29, 2021
The South African team ended the 4th Day with their scorecard reading 94/4. The Proteas are still trailing by a huge margin of 211 runs. In South Africa’s second innings, the Indian fast bowlers kept on troubling the Protean willow wielders.
Mohammed Shami disturbed Aiden Markram’s timber, while Keegan Petersen was removed by Mohammed Siraj. Bumrah then got the wicket of Rassie van der Dussen with an absolute jaffa. The ball pitched on off stump and came in sharply, and the right-hander shouldered arms to it.
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The red cherry hit the top of off stump, and van der Dussen eventually got dismissed for 11. Keshav Maharaj then walked back after Bumrah scalped his wicket with a superb yorker that dislodged his stumps. However, Dean Elgar held the fort with the willow for the hosts. The South African skipper defiantly played out 122 deliveries and scored an unbeaten 52*. Elgar struck 7 fours in his stay out in the middle.
