India’s sensational openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal gave team India a much-needed headstart to the 3-match-Test series in South Africa as they stitched a 50-plus Stand on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test at the SuperSport Park in Centurion.
Both the cricketers walked out with all-guns-blazing and together they put on 83 runs for the opening wicket before Lunch was taken on an overcast morning on Sunday.
That will be Tea on Day 1 of the 1st Test.
KL Rahul (68*) and Virat Kohli (19*) have stitched a 40*-run partnership. Join us for the final session after the Tea break.
Scorecard – https://t.co/eoM8MqSQgO #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/g0ajtjAS5P
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 26, 2021
Rahul and Mayank became the third Indian opening pair in Indian Test history to stitch a 100-run stand in South Africa, joining the likes of Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer, who had scored 153 runs in the Cape Town Test in 2007, and Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, who added 137 in a Test in Centurion in 2010.
Apart from this, Mayank and Rahul also joined an elite list by becoming only the 2nd overseas pair to put on a 50-plus opening stand in a Test in South Africa after Chris Gayle and Darren Ganga in 2007-08.
Here, check out the list of fifty-plus opening stands for India in South Africa:
1. Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik – 153 in Cape Town – 2007
2. Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag – 137 in Centurion – 2010
3. Nayan Mongia, Vikram Rathour – 90 in Johannesburg in 1997
4. Ajay Jadeja, Ravi Shastri – 68 in Johannesburg in 1992
5. Mayank and Rahul – 82* – in Centurion in 2021
Meanwhile, en route to the feat, Mayank Agarwal scored his sixth half-century, becoming the 12th Indian opener to score a 50 in a Test match in South Africa. Mayank has now scored half-centuries in all the five countries he has batted so far in Test cricket two fifties in Australia, four tons and one fifty in India, one fifty in West Indies, one fifty in New Zealand, and now one fifty in South Africa.
Interestingly, Mayank wasn’t the first choice opener for the Indian side for the ongoing series but Rohit Sharma’s injury offered him the position for Mayank. The Indian opener, who smashed a stunning century in Mumbai, won back his spot at the top and continued with his brilliant form and lived up to the expectations of the fans.
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