AB de Villiers fifty steadies South Africa after wobbly start vs India in Cape Town

AB de Villiers scored a gritty fifty to steady the South Africa innings after they lost three quick wickets on Day 1 of the first Test against India on Friday.

AB de Villiers scored a defiant half-century from 55 deliveries to help South Africa overcome a wobbly start in the first Test against India at the Newlands stadium in Cape Town on Friday. This was his 41st Test half-century and the fifth at Newlands. (LIVE BLOG)

AB De Villiers (C) celebrates after scoring his fifty during the first South Africa vs India Test in Cape Town. (AFP)

Coming in at the crease earlier than expected after Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s three-wicket opening burst, de Villiers didn’t take much time to get into groove and start rebuilding the innings. (LIVE SCORECARD)

Indian seamers Kumar and Mohammed Shami were on top of their game, making the ball dart around on a pitch that aided seam but trust de Villiers to not stay silent in the face of such aggression from India.

Four boundaries off Kumar in the ninth over, all coming through counter-attacking shots, put the pressure right back on the seamer who had started bowling wide by then. That sparked South Africa’s resurgence as de Villiers and Faf du Plessis ran hard for sharp singles and stayed on the lookout for loose deliveries.

Having stayed away from Test cricket for 23 months due to injury and self-imposed sabbatical, de Villiers needed a knock to justify his return to the longest format. He had played against Zimbabwe in the Boxing Day Test but this series was considered his real test.

He couldn’t have found a better time to announce his return in a grand style as he scored 10 boundaries in his fifty to set himself up for a bigger score.