GET APP
Cricketnext’s Baidurjo Bhose from Cape Town: Puddles increasing at the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town and this is not a good sign. Even though it is just a drizzle, it has been a constant factor from early morning. The met department seems to have got it spot on, only at a wrong time for cricket fans. The first session is gone here, but hopefully things turn better post lunch.
It must come as music to the ears of fans as drizzle gets lighter at Newlands. However, the groundsman will have their work cut-out to ready the pitch for game to begin. However, the curator has already told us that they will be able to get things up and running in an hour once the rain stops. Fingers crossed!
Cricketnext’s Baidurjo Bhose from Cape Town: Good news for the fans as the sun is peeking through the clouds for the first time this morning. The ground staff are out in the middle as is the super sopper. The drizzle is lighter and looks like they will start drainage work on the ground any time soon.
Newlands Curator Evan Flint in an exclusive interview to Cricketnext says - It doesn't look very good at the moment, as the forecast for rain is until late afternoon. Luckily, we are in a middle of drought so the ground is really firm and very dry so it should not take long (to clear up). Hopefully we will be able to clean up things in an hour (once the rain goes away). Because we are so close to the mountains, it is sometime little bit difficult (to predict rain). So, if it is going to rain anywhere in Cape Town, Newlands is bound to get the most of it.
Cricketnext’s Baidurjo Bhose from Cape Town: A very light drizzle here, but slight puddles forming here and that is not the best sight on a cricket field. As curator Evan said a while back, it is sad that cricket is the only sport that cannot go on in case of a drizzle. Fingers crossed here.
Match Delayed: As we go past 2 o clock IST, it is official that the match has been delayed due rain. The third day's play was scheduled to start at 2 PM IST but it hasn't as we will be losing so overs today. As it stands, things are looking good and showers are set to continue for an hours or so.
The square is fully covered here and the groundsmen believe that match can get underway at the earliest. Just waiting for the drizzle to stop. It is a double edged sword as rain was needed for relief from drought. | Reports @bbhose #INDvSA #SAvIND https://t.co/eIgnU34CK1 pic.twitter.com/5BXXSAYJQx
— cricketnext (@cricketnext) January 7, 2018
Seeing how the things have panned out in the last two days, the spinners might be ineffective on Day 3 as well. India and Virat Kohli might persist with the four pacers they have in their ranks. Ravindchandran Ashwin might get a few overs in between, but it looks unlikely that he will have a very big role to play. But being the master he is, he could surprise the batsmen with his quickish deliveries, only if he is given longer spells, as he takes little time to settle down and get into a rhythm.
These conditions would be great for some swing bowling. India would rely heavily on Bhuvneshwar Kumar to get some early wickets, like the way he did in the 1st innings. South Africa boasts of a big batting line-up, and just about anyone from their team has the ability to take on the bowlers and score some quick runs. So India needs to wary of that, and also get their act together in fielding and catching. It was due to some mediocre catching in the first innings that South Africa could manage to reach 286.
It has turned into a drizzle now. Hopefully we will have a quick end to this, and the ground has been covered. So starting the game shouldn't be a problem. Stay tuned for latest updates. | Reports @bbhose #INDvSA #SAvIND #IndvsSA https://t.co/eIgnU34CK1 pic.twitter.com/VXQ2eh2Vt4
— cricketnext (@cricketnext) January 7, 2018
While the conditions are expected to be overcast, India would fancy bundling out the South Africans by the day's end. If India do manage to achieve that, then the team could be in a good chance of winning. The batsmen too, after a poor showing in the 1st innings would be hoping for a better performance, having got a hang of the South African conditions already. The key would be to restrict the Proteas under 300.
South African pace bowler Kagiso Rabada felt that South Africa are still ahead in the game. He said, "We are slightly ahead and we are not going to give in. We need more hard work but we will take it at the end of the day. After the sort of momentum India got in the second session, we would take that lead," said Rabada. "Obviously, we were hoping for a bigger lead but India are not going to roll over and we expected that. That is what they showed out there," Rabada added. "It is tough to say what fourth innings' score we are looking for right now. We are looking at batting time, looking to bat normally and see what happens from there. We want to make it hard for them to score," he added.
The Indian middle-order batsman was also praise for South African bowling, and termed it as one of the best. He said,"This is one of the best attacks obviously. All of their bowlers have always done well, especially in South Africa. They know which areas to bowl in. When I bat, I don't look at the bowler and the bowling line-up, I try and look at the ball, try and keep it simple. As a batsman I would want to concentrate on what I would like to do rather than thinking whether they have the best bowlers in the world. It hardly matters if you score runs."
Pujara further added about Pandya, "Everyone believed he (Pandya) can play such an innings and he played his shots and the environment in the dressing room became quite positive. Those runs were very important for the team and they kept us in the game. If he hadn't scored those runs, we would have been in trouble. So I think he kept us in the game and got us two wickets also at the end of day's play. So his performance was outstanding. It was a case of him playing his natural game. He is someone who likes to play his shots. That's how he would bat in any situation. This was the ideal situation for him to express himself and the moment he tries playing his shots he has been successful. We have seen that against Sri Lanka as well. When he started playing his shots he was a different player altogether. That's how he should be playing and this is what makes him a different player from a top order batsman."
As the forecast had predicted, it is raining in Cape Town at the moment. Stay tuned for the latest updates. | Reports @bbhose #SAvIND #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/9ejGDmrX0T
— cricketnext (@cricketnext) January 7, 2018
Pandya, after his gritty innings under-pressure, received a lot of praise from his teammates. Cheteshwar Pujara said in the post-match conference, "He batted really well and showed a lot of character. He hasn't played many Test matches away from home but this is the kind of innings (he played) we expected it from him if he played in the playing XI. I think if someone who is very promising, he is batting well, bowling well, it makes a lot of difference to the team because when you have a very good all-rounder, it balances your team combination. I hope he continues with this.
"He has done significant damage to the underside of his foot which is likely to take 4-6 weeks to recover. We will consult a leading ankle specialist for tomorrow and see what can be done." Moosajee said. Steyn was was getting into the groove as he had figures of 2 for 51 with wickets of opener Shikhar Dhawan and wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha during his comeback Test. He was out of action for one year after a major surgery for shoulder dislocation. This was his first Test after the comeback. Steyn was also in line to break Shaun Pollock's record of highest wicket-taker for South Africa. He recently made a comeback in competitive cricket and Cricket South Africa (CSA) did not play during the four-day Test against Zimbabwe to preserve him for the India series. Team management will be hoping that he fully recovers by the time team is announced for the Australia series.
Day 2 brought some good news for the Indian camp. Dale Steyn, one of the best fast bowlers of all times, who was coming after a big injury layoff, was ruled out of the Test match as well as the series against India after picking up an injury. South African management confirmed that the pacer had damaged tissues on his left heel, due to which he had to leave the field. Steyn left the field three balls into his 18th over as he felt a pain on his left heel. South African team doctor Mohammed Moosajee confirmed that Steyn will take at least 4-6 weeks to fully recover from the injury.
Even though Pandya looked on course for a hundred, a bouncer from Rabada hit him on the upper abdomen and he was never the same. Trying to upper cut the bowler in the next over, Pandya (93) ended up giving an easy catch to Quinton. The Shami and Jasprit Bumrah partnership was always about decreasing South Africa’s lead and the innings finally folded up at 209. The last four Indian batsmen had scored 128 runs – 99 of them scored by Pandya and Bhuvneshwar.
The score read 76/5 as Pandya walked in to join Ashwin in the middle. But the partnership did not last long as even though Pandya looked to be the one struggling, Ashwin (12) edged one from Philander straight to Quinton. Wriddhiman Saha too did not bother the scorers as he shouldered arms to a ball from Steyn to walk back for a duck. With the team reeling at 92/7, Bhuvneshwar Kumar joined Pandya and the two kept fighting like warriors. They missed some, edged some, but never gave up. They kept fighting. At one point, Bhuvneshwar’s contribution was just 2 runs when their partnership reached 50. But after that, Bhuvneshwar too started opening up and played some shots. But with the partnership on 99, post tea, Morne Morkel had Bhuvneshwar (25) caught by Quinton. The score read 191/8 and after that it was solely on Pandya to strike fast and reach his second Test century.
Earlier, it was the perfect start for the Indians as overnight batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma played out the first hour without losing a wicket. But just when it looked like the two were slowly starting to get a hang of the wicket, Rohit was caught plumb in front by Rabada. Not only did Rohit (11) get out at the wrong time, he also wasted a review as he asked for the DRS to be implanted even after looking like a dead duck. With the score reading 57/4, R Ashwin joined Pujara in the middle and the two took India to lunch with a sense of solidarity that had even chief coach Ravi Shastri appreciate their effort in the dressing room. But the joy was short-lived as Vernon Philander sent back Pujara (26) off the first ball after lunch as he pitched one just on the off-stump and got it to move away quite a bit. In fact, it was a ball that could have easily been left as it was travelling on the 7th stump when he edged that for Faf du Plessis to complete an easy catch.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar must also be praised for hitting an 86-ball 25 in trying conditions to provide Pandya the support he needed with the top-order failing to apply itself late on Friday and in the first two sessions on Saturday. Having picked 4 wickets on Thursday, Bhuvneshwar returned to bide time in the middle and made sure that the final India total has some respectability to it. Having learnt from the opening innings when they were 12/3 to start with, the hosts looked to apply themselves in the second innings with openers Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar leading from the front with a partnership of 52 at the top of the innings before Pandya removed the right-hander for 34, caught by Bhuvneshwar. Pandya again struck to remove Elgar for 25 to give the Indian players something to cheer about at the fag end of the second day’s play.
Starting the day at 28/3, the Indians finished on 209 and then restricted the hosts to 65/2 at stumps, with a lead of 142, to still garner hopes of making a match out of this one. Hashim Amla (4) and Kagiso Rabada (2) are the unbeaten batsmen at the crease at the moment. Credit for staying afloat goes to none other than Pandya. Considered the next big thing in Indian cricket, the young sensation showed immense determination and adaptability to stand ground even when the likes of Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada beat him all ends up at the start of the innings. He was ready to miss, but wasn’t ready to get out. At times he looked ugly, but that was hardly on Pandya's mind. And the end result was a masterful 93 that helped India ensure that South Africa had a lead of only 77 when they came out to bat in the second innings. He then returned to pick two wickets to end of an amazing day on the field. Pandya did get a life on 71 when Quinton de Kock missed an easy stumping off Keshav Maharaj, but that is a part of the game. It does not register on the scoreboard.
If there was anyone that could save India the blues, it was Hardik Pandya. The all-rounder picked India from a state of tatters and put them in a position where they could give a fight to the South Africans on Day 3. It all started when Pandya came out to bat on Day 2 with the score reading 76-5. The man had a watchful stay at the crease, and went on with his shots at regular intervals to score 93 runs. He ensured that India reached a decent 209 in reply to South Africa's 286. Hello and welcome to Cricketnext for the third of the first Test from Newlands, Cape Town. Catch all the live action for the match through our live blog.
| Rank | Team | Points | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 4969 | 124 |
| 2 | South Africa | 3888 | 111 |
| 3 | England | 4497 | 105 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 3489 | 100 |
| 5 | Australia | 3294 | 97 |
| FULL Ranking | |||
Live Now :
