South Africa took three early wickets but wasted two vital opportunities on the opening morning of the first Test against India in Centurion on Tuesday.
After being sent in to bat, India were 91 for three at lunch, with Nandre Burger having an instant effect, taking two for 23 on his Test debut.
After the visitors were reduced to 24 for three, Virat Kohli (33 not out) and Shreyas Iyer (31 not out) put up an unbroken 67 for the fourth wicket.
Both may have been terminated on the fourth strike.
Marco Jansen dropped Iyer after he cut Kagiso Rabada to backward point.
In the next over, Kohli flicked Burger to midwicket and was caught by Tony de Zorzi.
South Africa suffered a further blow when captain Temba Bavuma was forced to leave the field with what seemed to be a recurrence of the hamstring injury he had at the World Cup last month.
The start was delayed by 30 minutes due to moist spots on a surface that had been covered for 40 hours due to rain before Tuesday morning.
Bavuma’s choice to bowl first on a pitch where inconsistent bounce has been a role in the latter stages of recent matches looked to pay off when three wickets fell in the opening hour.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was caught at the long leg by Rabada for a five-pointer.
Burger then struck again, catching Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill for 17 and two points, respectively.