Siraj, Bumrah rip through South African line up as India tighten grip; visitors 154/8 at tea

Mohammed Siraj's double strike added to South Africa's woes as India tightened their grip on the opening Test, reducing the visitors to 154 for eight at tea on day one at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday.

Having conceded 34 runs in his first six overs, Siraj toiled relentlessly and finally cracked open the lower middle order with a brilliant double-wicket burst in his 10th over, removing Kyle Verreynne and Marco Jansen in the space of four balls.

Verreynne (16), who was dropped twice in the 34th over, was undone when the ball struck his pad and then bat as he tried to defend towards mid-off. South Africa reviewed for the third time in the innings and burned their final referral.

Jansen (0) received a short ball first up, but Siraj then produced a length delivery that began reversing before pitching around off, darted back sharply and went through his gate.

At the stroke of tea, Axar Patel opened his account by trapping Corbin Bosch (3) leg before wicket as India suddenly looked poised to bat on the opening day itself despite Shubman Gill losing yet another toss.

The session had begun with Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah continuing from where they had left off. The left-arm spinner continuing to ask tough questions with drift, dip and length variations, keeping the batters under constant scrutiny.

After the early losses of Temba Bavuma and the openers, Wiaan Mulder and Tony de Zorzi tried to steady the innings with circumspect batting.

Mulder applied himself for more than 50 balls, looked compact against India’s four-pronged spin attack, but lost focus 15 minutes into the second session Attempting to break free with a reverse sweep against Kuldeep, he missed it completely and was trapped lbw.

India struck again in the third over after lunch as Bumrah, following a probing first spell of 7-4-9-2, returned to remove the in-form de Zorzi (24).

Earlier, in the morning session, Bumrah showcased his mastery with two unplayable deliveries to dismiss both thte openers, Aiden Markram (31) and Ryan Rickelton (23), after South Africa raced to 57 for no loss in 10 overs.

Kuldeep added the wicket of Bavuma (3) as India seized control before lunch and tightened the noose further by tea.