Watch: Virat Kohli was seen blowing kisses and bowing after taking the catch of the retiring Dean Elgar in his final Test innings, on day one of the Cape Town New Year’s Test.

The opening day of the Newlands Test unfolded in sensational fashion, with a jaw-dropping 23 dismissals across both teams. South Africa’s 55 all out was the story of the day, but only for a few hours. A record India collapse – six wickets for zero runs – meant that the hosts were back to batting again on Day 1 itself.

Dean Elgar, captaining the side in his final Test in place of the injured Temba Bavuma, walked out to open with Aiden Markram, with South Africa 98 runs behind. The two successfully negotiated India’s bowling for the first ten overs, before Mukesh Kumar struck, bringing to an end one of South Africa’s finest batting careers.

Poking at a delivery outside off, Elgar only managed to send an edge to Virat Kohli at first slip, hours after he had dragged one onto his stumps off Mohammed Siraj. As Elgar walked back, for one final time in Test cricket, Kohli was seen bowing and blowing kisses, seemingly gesturing at the crowd to celebrate Elgar. He then jogged to the departing left-hander and hugged him, after which his teammates followed and applauded Elgar.

#MukeshKumar's nibbler gets #DeanElgar on his final test!

Will #TeamIndia keep racking up wickets before the day's play?

Tune in to #SAvIND 2nd Test
LIVE NOW | Star Sports Network#Cricket pic.twitter.com/qftk1SpI8D

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) January 3, 2024

The Moments Virat Kohli hugs Dean Elgar and appreciating his incredible career.

– Moments of the day!pic.twitter.com/wl2w6NcN73

— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) January 3, 2024

At stumps, South Africa had lost two more wickets, but a flurry of boundaries from Markram ensured that they had cut the lead down to 36 runs. Earlier, in a lopsided scorecard, Kohli had top-scored for India, managing 46 off 59 before he was the eighth wicket to fall, one among six to depart with no change to the team score.

Elgar will retire with 5,347 runs, the eighth-most by a South Africa batter. As an opener, only Graeme Smith, Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs have scored more Test runs.