| Scores | Upcoming | Results |
Nagpur: Abhishek Nayar and Shikhar Dhawan resuscitated Board President's XI with a 181-run stand on the first day of the practice match against South Africa.
While the likes of Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Manish Pandey failed to get going, Nayar and Dhawan grabbed the opportu-nity with both hands to take the hosts to 318, which looked improb-able at one stage. South Africa openers Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince, when they came out to bat, comfortably played out 13 overs without any loss to end the day on 44.
The first day of tour-opener turned out to be an eye-opener for India's so called bench strength. They all have big scores under their belt at the domestic level but when the opportunity came to do it against a quality international side, they flattered only to deceive.
South African pacers called the shots after Rohit Sharma called it correctly and decided to bat on a decent VCA wicket, which had something for everyone.
Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel showed everyone why they are fast becoming a lethal fast-bowling pair. They hunted in pair to send back both openers—Abhinav Mukund and Parthiv Patel—in space of seven balls.
While the former never looked comfortable during his half-an-hour stay before getting out to Steyn's nasty short one, the latter succumbed to an excellent diving catch by skipper Graeme Smith at first slip. Patel edged the ball to second slip but Jacques Kallis failed to latch on. However, an alert Smith dived behind to take a brilliant one-handed catch.
Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma tried to steady the ship but both fell to short-pitched deliveries after being well-set.
Pandey came and counter-attacked with elan. He thrashed Paul Harris all over the park as 36 of his 42-ball 43 came off the left-armer
Brief scores
Board President's XI: 318 (Nayar 100, Dhwan 70, Morkel 3-24, Parnell 3-66)
South Africans: 44 for 0
Status: South African trail by 274 runs
