Kohli saves India

Virat Kohli stands 10 centimetres taller than Sachin Tendulkar. On the opening day of the Test series between SA and India at the Wanderers yesterday, he grew several feet in stature.

To Kohli has fallen the mission impossible of succeeding Tendulkar at No. 4 in India's batting lineup. How to replace a retired god? Score a century. And not just any century: one that matters.

Kohli's career-best 119, hammered out on an unforgiving anvil of a pitch for four-and-a-half hours , was exactly that. It was also the key to India reaching 255/5 at stumps.

No one has Tendulkar's temperament, experience or sense of responsibility, and few have his talent and skill. But Kohli, playing in his 21st Test, showed yesterday that he has enough of those qualities not to let his team down.

Kohli spoke as he batted, well within himself: "They were big shoes to fill, but I had a plan and it's always nice when you plan something and it comes together."

He took guard with India threatening to live up to their reputation to crash and burn against fast bowling. Both of their openers, Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, had been unconvincing against SA's quicks and were duly removed. India were 24/2.

Kohli blocked, hit to fielders for no run, left or avoided the first eight balls he faced. The ninth, a nasty, brutish, short delivery from Jacques Kallis, he hooked off his visor for four.

When, just more than an hour before stumps, he lowered himself onto a knee to swat Kallis through the covers and lifted a catch to JP Duminy, he dropped his bat, froze for a long moment and looked like a man who had failed.

"If you don't play your strokes you will never make runs," Kohli said.

Between those extremes, Kohli was a picture of patience and purpose - although he will have to take the blame for Cheteshwar Pujara's run out, which was the closest the centurion came tooffering a chance.

Kohli worked a delivery from Imran Tahir towards mid-wicket and set off on a single, only to change his mind as Tahir swooped, fielded and threw. Hashim Amla broke the stumps well before Pujara made it back to safety.

That put paid to a stand that looked set for bigger things than the 89 runs it realised. Kohli begin to make amends in a partnership of 38 with Rohit Sharma, and another of 68 with the all but non-playing No 6, Ajinkya Rahane, who faced 105 balls for his 43 not out.

SA will ask themselves what they could have done differently. They could have made the batsmen play more, but the real answer is tied up in Kohli's innings, a black hole into which pressure disappeared, never to be seen again.

Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander bowled with sensible aggression with the new ball. Morné Morkel was all but unplayable in a first spell in which he conceded one run in five overs, had a catch dropped and took Vijay's wicket. Kallis cranked up the pace like a man 10 years his junior, and was rewarded with the biggest scalp of the day.

"It was not a great day, but a good day," Allan Donald said. "We pride ourselves on finding a way."

Sometimes, the other team plays better. SA need to be that team today.

Scorecard

South Africa vs India

First Test at the Wanderers

India 1st innings

M Vijay c AB de Villiers b M Morkel 6

S Dhawan c I Tahir b D Steyn 13

C Pujara run out (I Tahir) 25

V Kohli c JP Duminy b J Kallis 119

R Sharma c AB de Villiers b V Philander 14

A Rahane not out 43

MS Dhoni not out 17

Extras (3lb, 14w, 1nb) 18

Total (for 5 wickets after 90 overs) 255

Falls: 1/17 2/24 3/113 4/151 5/219

Bowling: D Steyn 23-5-56-1 (2w), V Philander 21-2-55-1, M Morkel 19-10-27-1 (1nb 2w), J Kallis 14-4-37-1 (2w), I Tahir 8-0-47-0, JP Duminy 5-0-30-0.

At stumps, day 1.