Live Cricket Score of South Africa vs India, 3rd Test, Day 2

Lunch - Session to SA

Well done Rabada! Well done South Africa! They remain in the driver's seat in this Test match. They could have been put under tremendous pressure after Elgar's wicket early in the day but Rabada and Amla played well to take the pressure off South Africa. Even though Rabada fell just a few minutes before the break, South Africa will still be pleased with the effort. AB de Villiers will remain the key post lunch. If he can light up Johannesburg, this game will quickly slip out of India's grasp.

Ishant strikes!

He has bowled well, hasn't he? Ishant Sharma is finally rewarded as Rabada's resistance ends. This is bowled short of a length on middle stump, leaves the batsman a touch and takes the outside edge, to be caught by Rahane.India badly needed that. Can they remove AB before the lunch break?

But Rabada has been good

@Narbavi Indian bowlers have missed the trick of using short stuffs against Rabada

— Deepak Raj (@draj551985) January 25, 2018

Kagiso Rabada, thorn in the flesh, pain in the neck for India this morning...

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) January 25, 2018

Amla survives

India needed a bit of luck to get that decision overturned and as it turns out, they were quite lucky to retain that review. The ball hits Amla high on the kneeroll but India still challenge the umpire's decision. Replays show the ball clipping the stumps and as a result, Amla survives and India retain the review.

Rabada stands firm

Maybe the rest can take a leaf out of Rabada's book. He is so stubborn out in the middle. Anything that's going to bounce over the stumps and slightly bowled outside off, he is shouldering arms and is not looking to poke. India are frustrated by the nightwatchman's resistance and then when Bumrah tempts him by overpitching one delivery, he stylishly flicks it wide of the mid on fielder to pick up a boundary. Top stuff! India need his wicket.

Finally

Relief for India! Elgar was really riding his luck since the first ball. He kept on missing almost every single delivery that he faced today and it was only a matter of time before he nicked one, which he finally did. Bhuvneshwar totally deserved it. Let's see how Amla approaches this innings now.

Definitely from what we have seen so far

@Narbavi is the innings of Ab de Villiers a very crucial one on this wicket because its really tough conditions.

— Mitansh Sharma (@MitanshSharma17) January 25, 2018

Superb start

How unlucky was Bhuvneshwar Kumar in that opening over? He kept beating Elgar's outside edge taking the ball away from him. He kept bowling in with the angle from around the wicket to the left-hander and managed to take it away from the batsman after pitching it. Elgar looked absolutely clueless in the opening over and it makes you wonder if these are the signs of things to come throughout the day.

In tennis parlance, South Africa lead 6-4, 6-3 and have broken serve in the 1st game of the 3rd set.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 25, 2018

The boon and bane of intent

Throughout the series, there has been so much talk about India displaying enough intent to have an upper hand over their opponents. It was once again evident when they opted to bat first on a green top after winning the toss yesterday. Our correspondent Kaushik Rangarajan sheds some lightintoIndia's approach here.

Build up

India's batting failed to deliver once again on this tour despite Ajinkya Rahane's return to the playing XI. Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara stood tall with plucky half-centuries but the rest of the line up came a cropper on a surface that had plenty of assistance for the seamers. As many as 11 wickets fell on the opening day and the surface is expected to continue assisting the pacers on the second day as well.

Perhaps South Africa will look to play positive cricket after already losing Aiden Markram before stumps to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. At least that's what Phehlukwayo indicated at the end of the day's play. In such a scenario, AB de Villiers will be the key wicket for the Indians. He has made quite a telling impact in this series, coming up with crucial contributions and if the visitors can manage to get rid of him quickly, then we will likely have an even contest despite India scoring only 187.

Welcome to the live blog for the second day's play of this third and final Test. Tweet in your opinions to @Narbavi and have them featured on the blog.