The Indian Test skipper, Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bat frost in the third and final match of the series against South Africa at Newland in Cape Town. The Indian openers, KL Rahul (12) and Mayank Agarwal (15), who displayed brilliant batting performance in the first two Tests of the ongoing Test series, departed early in the first session.
Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara anchored the innings in the first session after India was reeling at 33/2 in the first session on Day 1 of the Cape Town Test. Pujara (43) looked confident with the bat, but the middle-order batsman fell to Marco Jansen in the 38th over. Ajinkya Rahane, who walked out to bat after the dismissal of Pujara, could manage only nine runs and be dismissed cheaply.
WATCH – Virat Kohli Saved By A Close DRS Call In Cape Town Test
Marco Jansen picked up the wickets of Rishabh Pant and R Ashwin in quick succession before Keshav Maharaj managed to take his first wicket of the series as he dismissed Shardul Thakur. Virat Kohli looked confident and was eyeing his 28th Test century, but the Indian captain fell to Rabada in the 73rd over. Kohli played a near-flawless knock of 79 runs off 201 balls with 12 fours and one maximum and guided India to a total of 223 in the first innings.
Here is the video of the dismissal:
— Ijas clt (@CltIjas) January 11, 2022
While talking about the match, India eventually got bundled out for 223 with Virat Kohli playing a captain’s knock of 79, but he fell short of partners and missed the chance of scoring his 71st century. Earlier in the day, India captain, Kohli won the toss and opted to bat first. For South Africa, Kagiso Rabada picked up four wickets while Marco Jansen took three wickets, and Duanne Olivier, Lungi Ngidi, and Keshav Maharaj picked up a scalp each.
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During the toss, Virat Kohli said they have made a couple of changes as Hanuma Vihari and Mohammed Siraj made way for captain and Umesh Yadav respectively. On the other hand, South African skipper, Dean Elgar said they have made no changes to their playing 11 as compared to the second Test which they win by 7 wickets.
Here is how fans reacted to the wait of 71st century of Virat Kohli gets elongated:
Some innings are not less than a century. King @imVkohli, you beauty! ♥️🔥#INDvsSA #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/l1d4kQGkgf
— Gunjan Datta (Ishaan) (@gd_ishaan) January 11, 2022
Those who are happy with Virat Kohli getting out without getting 100 today are just cricket haters Virat Kohli #INDvsSA
— 🅅🄸🄶🄽🄴🅂🄷 🅁🄰🄷🄸 🄵🄰🄽🄱🄾🅈 🇮🇳 🦁7781❤️ (@vigneshMSD07) January 11, 2022
— ✌♛ ɪᴛᴢ_ᴅᴊツ (@dj_twtz) January 11, 2022
The wait for Virat Kohli's 71st extends even further.
But top effort nevertheless, especially the way he conducted himself while dealing with outside off deliveries. pic.twitter.com/2GgpoOk0Z2
— Talha Ali (@TalhaAli781) January 11, 2022
Eish the way i wanted Kohli to get the 100🥺
— Sharon R.Nyika💎 (@Sharon_R_Nyika) January 11, 2022
Sometimes 79 has a lot more quality than a hundred. This was a top-top knock from a top player. Today Kohli hasn’t missed a century by 21 runs but scored valuable and high-quality 79 runs. #SAvInd
— Dipanjan Chatterjee (@Dipanja39368924) January 11, 2022
