Star batsman Virat Kohli covered the swing well, though he often played and missed, until a late ball skimmed and sent him back to the dressing room, said Kagiso Rabada, a satisfied punch after taking his 14th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. India were restricted to 208 for 8 in 59 overs by South Africa on a truncated first day of the opening Test at Supersport Park here on Tuesday and the tricky bounce proved to be the downfall of the visiting team batters.
“He turned away late,” Rabada's smile said it all about the delivery, which deviated and caught the outside edge of Kohli's bat even as the Indian tried to play for an inswing.
“For some reason, when he played and missed, he usually covered the channel. With him, you always have to be on. I was happy to get that faint (faint edge),” Rabada said.
There are days when the process you follow produces flawless results. Rabad had one today.
“(Such) days happen in cricket. This was my day. Quite happy with the way I bowled. India have quite a bit of experience and if someone had told us it would be 208 for 8, we would have assumed that before the match ,” said Proteas pace spearhead.
He also praised KL Rahul's exhausting batting.
“His (batting) options were good, he defended well, someone always stood out and he was that batsman today,” he added.
The Proteas pacers bowled 65 deliveries on the leg-stump channel with a leg slip in place in the first session.
“The two left-armers were on the attack and swung the ball in. It seemed like an after-lunch tactic. It was Temba (Bavuma), who had a good feeling about how to get wicket and thought it made sense to put his leg let slip.
We almost had Virat on square leg. After lunch it was again a matter of feeling, after lunch we changed tactics,” said Rabada.
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