Jacques Kallis gave another batting masterclass with an unbeaten 159 on day 1 of the opening Test. He was superbly supported by Hashim Amla, who also scored a century (115), as the two put on an unbeaten 3rd wicket partnership of 285, to rescue their side when they were in trouble on 6/2 in the 7th over.
Ashwell Prince continued his poor form with a 10 ball duck, and SA finished the day on 291/2 after winning the toss and batting.
In the betting, The Draw is still favourite and is now into a short 8/15 with Sky Bet. South Africa are now into 9/4 with William Hill and 888Sport. While India are now out to a massive 16/1 with Boylesports, Sportingbet
and Stan James.
Not convinced that this is going to be the cast iron draw the bookmakers seem to have already decided it is.
When it’s South Africa’s turn to bowl, if they can can make the new ball work for them and get rid of the openers early, there appears to be a potential ‘soft’ middle order waiting to be exposed (with the obvious exception of Sachin Tendulkar).
You have the inexperienced Murali Vijay at No.3, debutant Subramaniam Badrinath at No.5, MS Dhoni batting at 6, and reserve wicketkeeper and yet another debutant, Wriddhiman Saha batting at No.7. This could be a batting recipe for disaster, the Indian batting hasn’t looked this fragile for years.
