South Africa will look to extend the lead on day three of the first Test against India. At the close of play on day two, the home side were 65/2 with Hashim Amla and nightwatchman Kagiso Rabada at the crease. India will be hoping to restrict the hosts for as low as possible and for that bowlers will have to dish out a strong performance. Stay with us as we provide you the live score updates.
2:35 pm IST: It is raining heavily now and looks like we will have first session washed out. Cape Town needed rains following long spell of dry weather and God has listened to them.
2:00 pm IST: It is actually raining heavily. So the rain has delayed the start of third day’s play.
1:55 pm IST: It was raining in cape Town since 3 am local time and we could have delayed start.
Build-up: All-rounder Hardik Pandya shone with the bat and the ball to help India stay afloat. Pandya’s 93 and 2/17 gave India a much-needed impetus despite the Proteas leading by 142 runs at the end of Day Two.
South Africa vs India 1st Test: Dale Steyn Suffers Injury, Ruled Out of Three-Match Series
Pandya struck a spirited innings before India were bundled out for 209 to close their first-innings gap to 77 runs.
In reply to South Africa’s 286, none of the Indian batsmen apart from Pandya managed to make a good start as the wickets kept falling at regular intervals.
Having lost Murali Vijay (1), Shikhar Dhawan (16) and skipper Virat Kohli (5) cheaply on Day One, India relied heavily on their swashbuckling batsmen Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara after they took the team past 50-run mark.
But, Rohit and Pujara failed to convert their good start into big innings and were dismissed lowly for 11 and 26 respectively.
However, Pandya came from behind and served as the lone survivor for India by notching up a blistering 93-run knock as the visitors staged a late fight back in the match.
South Africa vs India 1st Test Day 2 Highlights- As it Happened
The main highlight of India’s innings was Pandya’s 99-run stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, after which the latter dismissed for 25.
For South Africa, Vernon Philander was the pick of the bowlers for his remarkable figures of three for 33 followed by Kagiso Rabada’s three for 34. Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn grabbed two wickets each. Sadly, for South Africa Steyn has been ruled out of the series following an injury.
Pandya struck with the ball twice, getting rid of Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar, as soon as the Proteas got to batting. (With ANI inputs).