The second test match at Newlands, Cape Town started with India hoping to level the series only for the second time in their history while touring South Africa. On the other hand, South Africa was hoping to bid a well-deserved farewell to their start test batsman and captain Dean Elgar. But nobody ever knew what was coming on Day 1.
South Africa was bundled out on 55 runs with Siraj picking up 6 wickets while Bumrah and Mukesh Kumar picked 2 each. India who started their innings on a positive note with some exquisite shots played particularly by Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli collapsed eventually by losing 6 wickets on zero runs in the end and could manage to put only 153 runs on the board taking 98 runs lead. In their second innings too, South Africa lost 3 quick wickets including their captain Dean Elgar.
Day 1 of the Cape Town test saw the fall of 23 wickets and surpassed the test match between England and Australia played at The Oval in 1890 which saw a fall of 22 Wickets and became the second highest number of wickets fallen on Day 1 in the history of Test cricket after 25 Wickets in the test match played between Australia and England at MCG in 1902.
Most wickets on Day 1 of a Test
25 – AUS vs ENG, Melbourne, 1902
23 – SA vs IND, Cape Town, 2024
22 – ENG vs AUS, The Oval, 1890
22 – AUS vs WI, Adelaide, 1951
21 – SA vs ENG, Gqeberha, 1896
Most wickets on a single day in Tests
27 – ENG vs AUS, Lord’s, 1888 (Day 2)
25 – AUS vs ENG, Melbourne, 1902 (Day 1)
24 – ENG vs AUS, The Oval, 1896 (Day 2)
24 – IND vs AFG, Bengaluru, 2018 (Day 2)
23 – SA vs AUS, Cape Town, 2011 (Day 2)
23 – SA vs IND, Cape Town, 2024 (Day 1)