India dominate the proceedings at lunch as openers hold ground in Vizag

India dominated the proceedings in the first session on Day 1 of the ongoing first Test between India and South Africa in Vizag. The hosts were comfortably placed at 91 for no loss as the umpires called for lunch.

Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Team India got off to a solid start with openers Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma finding their feet early at the crease. After surviving the initial new-ball burst from Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada, the duo settled in to pile on the agony for the bowlers. Finding the boundaries frequently, Agarwal and Sharma managed to keep the scoreboard ticking along at a decent clip.

Opening an innings together for the first time in a Test match, the pair went on to stitch a fifty-run stand between them, drawing applause from the gathering at the stadium. Especially, it was Rohit Sharma's delightful strokes that gave the crowd plenty to cheer about. The dashing batsman, who has donned the opener's role for the first time in his Test career, brought up a classy half-century to repay the team management's faith in him.

While the South African spinners did manage to extract some turn off the pitch, the Indian batsmen seemed unfazed by it. With the pitch looking to get better as the day progresses, Faf du Plessis and Co will be hoping to get a couple of breakthroughs early in the second session to test India's middle order.