Proteas fast bowler Lungi Ngidi says restricting India to less than 340 on the second day of the Boxing Day Test in Centurion will be ideal as they look to claw their way back in the match.

India ended day one at SuperSport Park on Sunday sitting on 272/3 after a sensational and unbeaten century by opener KL Rahul put India in a commanding position.

Rahul sparkled with his seventh century (122 off 248) that included 17 boundaries and one maximum as he carried the bat and helped India to lay a solid foundation.

Rahul’s impressive performance overshadowed Ngidi’s gallant efforts as he ended his shift with all three wickets that fell on the day on which the SA bowling attack largely struggled.

“It is a tough one, but I do think anything under 330 or 340,” Ngidi said at stumps on day one.

“If we can get a few wickets in the morning and move closer to their tail, we can put them away with the calibre of bowlers we have because it is a good deck if you plan properly with good disciplines.

“You saw the fuller ball doesn’t do as much and they put them away, so you have to be accurate and once you start hitting those areas you can swing a few maidens.”

With only three wickets by him in the day, Ngidi said they must be on top of their game on Monday.

“It is Test cricket. You win some sessions and you lose the others. In patches we were on top and they came back but all in all it has been a good day of cricket and there is still a lot on that wicket.

“Everyone must just bring their A-game tomorrow (Monday) morning because things can happen quickly. You saw with the two wickets in two balls that anything can happen.

“If we can get few breakthroughs early in the morning, that could turn the game on its head. They batted well. KL Rahul led well upfront, put away the bad ball and that shows he’s done well.”

The Proteas surprisingly started the match with fast bowler Marco Jansen ahead of Duanne Olivier, and Ngidi said he doesn’t know the reasons for the decision.

“ I wouldn’t know. I think everyone has been preparing well. It was probably a call by senior players or management because everyone has been preparing well.

“Everyone is looking good. We didn’t even know who was going to play. Having not played cricket in a while, I did not know if I was going to get the nod but we picked the best team we think it is going to give us the results in the match.”