India slip up with the bat on a day of role reversals

The 10th ball of India's innings was a back-of-a-length delivery from Kagiso Rabada that didn't get up as high as the bowler would have liked and Rohit Sharma swivelled into a pull shot, sending the ball deep into the stands behind fine leg. Joining the chorus of the Indian supporters manufacturing bedlam over the first scoring shot of the match was Anrich Nortje at the third-man fence. The applause and the vigorous nod of appreciation was directed at his fast bowling partner, who incidentally was already walking back to the top of his run-up. It was also a quiet acknowledgement of South Africa having India exactly where they wanted them to be: fighting fire with fire.

This match was what it was meant to be: a contest between this group's two strongest contenders, who had just spent the better part of the northern hemisphere's summer clubbing balls out of stadiums for fun. When