An unbeaten century from the veteran Dean Elgar and 50 on debut from David Bedingham allowed South Africa to take an 11-run lead with five wickets in hand over India, before bad light ended play on the second day of the first Test at Centurion.
The 36-year-old Elgar is retiring from international cricket after this two-Test series but played one of the best innings of his long career as he scored an emotional 140 not out to help the hosts to 256 for five in reply to India’s first-innings total of 245. He will resume on Thursday with Marco Jansen, who has three, with South Africa seeking to build a substantive lead.
Elgar, who took over the captaincy after Temba Bavuma pulled his hamstring fielding on Tuesday, played some unusually flamboyant front-foot strokes in a chanceless innings against a fearsome attack on a track set up for the seamers. He scored a 14th Test century but his first at Centurion, which is his home ground.
Elgar brought up his ton in 140 balls and featured in two important partnerships – first, 93 runs for the second wicket with Tony de Zorzi, which set a good foundation, and then 131 with Bedingham for the fourth wicket. The 29-year-old Bedingham looked assured and confident on debut as he scored 56 before being bowled by Mohammed Siraj, who finished the day with figures of two for 63. Jasprit Bumrah also took two wickets, squaring up De Zorzi (28) and forcing a thick edge to third slip and then bowling Keegan Petersen for two.
“I wanted to play with a bit of freedom,” said Elgar at the close of play. “I was pretty confident. I don’t have a lot to lose now, do I? It’s my last series and I want to play with a bit of freedom. But I still want to perform, I still want to contribute to the side and still want to get us into winning positions, still want to score Test hundreds. Today the luck was all on my side.”
Siraj had taken the first wicket of the innings when Aiden Markram went cheaply for five in the fourth over of South Africa’s knock. Earlier, KL Rahul completed his century before India were dismissed for 245 in their first innings, moving on from 208 for eight overnight with play commencing 25 minutes late because of light drizzle.
Rahul, who was 70no at the start, went to an eighth Test century in spectacular fashion, hammering a six into the crowd as the tourists added 37 runs to their day one score before being bowled out. He had provided stout resistance on Tuesday as South Africa threatened to dismiss India cheaply, but the hosts were let down by spilt catches and inconsistent bowling.
Rahul came out again on Wednesday with the same aggressive intent and put away the bad balls to reach his century before being the last man dismissed as Nandre Burger bowled him for 101 off 137 balls. Burger finished with three for 50 on his debut with Kagiso Rabada the pick of the home bowlers with five for 59.