It had been an unusually subdued first half of the first international men’s match to be played at the New PCA Stadium on Thursday. The venue’s location, in Mullanpur on the outskirts of Chandigarh, meant it took a while for it to fill up. The elegant batting masterclass from Quinton de Kock, which had powered South Africa to a hefty-looking 213-run total, had flattened the home crowd too.

On his first ball, Punjab lad Shubman Gill nicked one to second slip to depart. Abhishek Sharma had given the fans some cause to roar with a couple of early sixes, but nicked one to the wicketkeeper himself a few minutes later. The hush grew. It meant that the local troika – the first time in nearly 20 years that as many as three players from the state were playing an international on home turf – ha

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