Virat Kohli(India) Hits Century in South Africa 1st Test Series

Johannesburg, Dec 18: Virat Kohli was in sight of a century as India scored 94 runs for the loss of two wickets in the second session of play on the first day of the opening Test against South Africa. Kohli completed his fifth Test hundred soon after tea.

At the tea interval, the visitors were 164/4 in 55 overs. Virat Kohli, the new number four for India after the departure of Sachin Tendulkar, was impressive on 84 not out while Ajinkya Rahane kept him company with 12.

Virat Kohli hits century Posted by: Aprameya Updated: Wednesday, December 18, 2013, 19:37 [IST] Ads by Google ICICI Bank Official Site Personal, Business, NRI Banking & More. Learn & Apply Online Today! www.icicibank.com Johannesburg, Dec 18: Virat Kohli was in sight of a century as India scored 94 runs for the loss of two wickets in the second session of play on the first day of the opening Test against South Africa. Kohli completed his fifth Test hundred soon after tea. Scorecard At the tea interval, the visitors were 164/4 in 55 overs.

Virat Kohli, the new number four for India after the departure of Sachin Tendulkar, was impressive on 84 not out while Ajinkya Rahane kept him company with 12. 1st Test: Day 1 Tea: Kohli hits ton Virat Kohli celebrates his half century CA Pujara V Kohli Cheteshwar Pujara Profile Gallery All India Players Recent Matches Played India won by an innings and 126 runs India won by an innings and 51 runs India won by 7 wickets Between lunch and tea, India lost Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma.

 Pujara was run out for 25 while with five minutes for the break, Rohit played a poor shot to head back to the pavilion for 14 runs. Rohit was caught behind by AB de Villiers off Vernon Philander. Kohli, playing a Test in South Africa for the first time, looked in good nick. He continued his good work from the first session to head towards a ton. The right-handed youngster has 14 boundaries in 113-ball knock. Rahane struck three fours soon after his arrival at the crease. At lunch, India 70/2 After the early loss of openers, Pujara and Kohli steadied the innings as India reached 70/2 at lunch.

Kohli was unbeaten on 32 while Pujara was 18 not out after 27 overs of play. The duo has so far added 46 runs for the third wicket after India were in trouble at 24/2 in 15.1 overs. Kohli, hit five boundaries while Pujara had two in his 61-ball knock. Kohli has been positive in his 32-ball stint in the first session. India openers Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan played cautiously to see of the first half hour but the latter fell to a poor shot in the ninth over. Having moved to 13 off 27, Dhawan attempted a pull shot off Dale Steyn and was caught by Imran Tahir. It was an unnecessary shot by the left-hander.

Vijay batted 69 minutes and faced 42 balls for his 6 before being scalped by first-change bowler Morne Morkel. The right-hander found it hard against Morkel, who bowled 11 balls at Vijay and did not concede a run. Finally, he got his reward as Vijay edged the ball to wicketkeeper De Villiers. Vijay could have been dismissed a few balls earlier if not for a tough chance grassed by Hashim Amla at shortleg off Morkel.

Morkel was introduced by captain Graeme Smith in the 12th over. Immediately, he beat the bat of Vijay few times. The hosts started the bowling with Steyn and Philander. Jacques Kallis too have pressed into action in the first session of play. By far, Morkel was the best of the lot, with figures of 6-4-6-1. Toss Report India captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat.

India went in with three fast bowlers (Zaheer Khan, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma) and one spinner - R Ashwin. Rahane will bat at number six, Dhoni said at the toss. Dhoni broke Sourav Ganguly's record for most Tests as India captain. Today's Test is Dhoni's 50th as India skipper. This is the first Test match for India since the retirement of Tendulkar. The Master Blaster bid adieu to cricket last month after playing 200 Tests.

Source : Google News, Hindu