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South Africa suffered a big blow on day 1 of the first Test against India at the Supersport Park in Centurion as their captain Temba Bavuma suffered an injury to his left hamstring. The right-hander reportedly went for scans and his further participation in the match is yet to be determined.
The incident occurred during the 20th over of the innings when Virat Kohli played a punchy cover drive and Bavuma gave it a good chase to keep it to only 2 runs. However, the veteran did his left hamstring while trying to prevent the boundary and walked off the field with a support staff member of the Proteas.
Earlier, the toss fell in favour of Bavuma as the Centurion witnessed a delayed start due to showers and a wet outfield. The Proteas played an all-out pace attack, including Nandre Burger, Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee. India, on the other hand, opted for three pacers and a lone spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin.
Dean Elgar leads South Africa in Temba Bavuma's absence
With their regular captain out injured, veteran opener Dean Elgar is leading the home side. South Africa's bowling attack picked up three wickets inside the first session before Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer dug in.
Rabada, who had earlier dismissed Rohit Sharma, returned to remove Kohli and Iyer shortly after lunch. The right-arm pacer then got the better of Ravichandran Ashwin, followed by Shardul Thakur for his fifer.
Should Bavuma be rendered unfit for the second Test too, Elgar might lead the Proteas. The 36-year-old, who led South Africa to a series win over India in the 2021-22 leg, will retire from Tests after the ongoing series. At tea, the visitors had reached 176-7, with KL Rahul as their set batter.
South Africa remains India's final frontier as Team India are yet to win a Test series in the rainbow nation.
