India batting collapse, South Africa 55 highlight 23 wicket Day 1 in Cape Town

Listen to Story What looked like a perfect start for Team India turned sour as Rohit Sharma's men failed to capitalize on the good work from their bowlers as a staggering 23 wickets fell on the opening day of their second Test against South Africa in Cape Town on Thursday. The highlight of the day was South Africa's astonishing collapse to just 55 runs, with Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj tearing through their batting lineup.

India, however, did not fare much better, as they too experienced a significant batting collapse. India's dismal record at Cape Town was a concern going into the match, with a history of never having won a Test series in South Africa. Their performance on this day did little to change that narrative.

Despite starting the day with a promising partnership between Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, India's innings quickly unravelled. The team's struggles were symptomatic of broader issues that have plagued them in recent times, including batting collapses in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries, such as the 36 all out in Adelaide in 2020 and 131 all out in the 2023 Boxing Day Test against South Africa.

The Indian team endured an unexpected batting collapse as the tourists lost six wickets without adding a single run to the scoreboard on the opening day. Lungi Ngidi triggered the collapse by claiming three wickets in the 34th over of India's innings with the scoreboard reading 153 for 4. Ngidi managed to dismiss KL Rahul (8), Ravindra Jadeja (0), and Jasprit Bumrah (0) in a single, devastating over.

Shortly after that, Kagiso Rabada capitalized on the chaos by dismissing Virat Kohli, shattering any hopes of an Indian comeback. Within a blink, Mohammed Siraj fell victim to a mix up with Prasidh Krishna and was subsequently run out. The following delivery led to Prasidh Krishna's dismissal, concluding India's innings at 153 runs in 33.5 overs, establishing a slender lead of 98 runs..