SA 42/1 in 17 Overs, lead by 175│Live Cricket Score, South Africa vs England 2015-16, 4th Test at Centurion, Day 3: Bad light forces early stumps

Welcome to CricketCountry's live coverage of Day 3 of the fourth and final Test between South Africa and England at Centurion.

Goeie more! Hello and Welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of Day 3 of the fourth and final Test between hosts South Africa and visitors England at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Sunday. I am Amit Banerjee, and I will be bringing you all the live updates from today’s play. England, who have already won thw series, have a 2-0 lead in the series anjd are running high on confidence as they look to maintain the same winning momentum in this final Test as well and make sure they finish the series on a better margin. South Africa, on the other hand, who have been on the receiving end, are running low on confidence following twin successive Test series defeat and would aim for a turnaround in this final Test, as they aim to finish the series on a high. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: South Africa vs England 2015-16, 4th Test at Centurion

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: South Africa 42/1 in 17 overs; BATTING: Stephen Cook 23(58), Hashim Amla 16(41): FOUR! Punched away through the covers off Woakes by Cook, who has waited patiently enough for an opportunity to flex his arms. FOUR! Cook at it again, this time guiding the short delivery from Stokes along the leg-stump down towards fine-leg! Meanwhile, its drinks at the end of the 14th over.Moeen Ali into the attack for the 15th over, and his ability to get important breakthroughs for his side is well known. Meanwhile, the floodlights are shining brightly at the SuperSport Park in Centurion, making it virtually a Day/Night Test. Meanwhile, bad light stops play with more than 10 overs to go before stumps. And the umpires decide it’s too dark to continue, and call for stumps! Read the day’s report here.

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: South Africa 23/1 in 10 overs; BATTING: Stephen Cook 14(31), Hashim Amla 8(26): FOUR! Cook gets off the mark with a push through point to collect a boundary at the end of the first over! OUT! Elgar falls for another low score, and is fast losing his place in the side! Edged to the wicketkeeper off a short Anderson delivery that angles into the batsman. Could have left the delivery even at that line. Cook clips away towards midwicket in the following over by Broad, collecting three runs as a result. FOUR! Leading edge off Amla’s bat, with the ball flying through the slips. Amla’s lucky run continues. FOUR! Short and angling into the batsman from Broad, Cook pushes it between point and cover to get his second boundary. OUCH! Hashim hit on his thumb off a Stokes delivery at the start of the 10th over! The ball seems to have hit the nail, leaving the thumb bloodied. Amla is batting again after getting attended to by the team physio Brandon Jackson. OUT! Dean Elgar c Jonny Bairstow b James Anderson 1(3)

Read the England innings report here.

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: England 342 in 104.2 overs; BATTING:  James Anderson 5(11): DROPPED! Amla fails to hold on to a catch at short mid-off after Ali drives off a full toss off Duminy. One may argue that it was too quick for Amla. Then again, South Africa could have ended the innings sooner than what they face now. OUT! Broad’s brief stay at the crease comes to an end with a half-hearted pull that allows Cook to complete the catch at the square-leg boundary! And Rabada takes his seventh wicket as a result! FOUR! Moeen Ali brings up his fifth ODI fifty with a pull towards wide long-on! OUT! England are bowled out for 342, with Moeen getting caught by Piedt at deep point to give Morkel his second wicket! OUT! Stuart Broad c Stephen Cook b Kagiso Rabada 5(18), Moeen Ali c Dane Piedt b Morne Morkel 61(101)

Kagiso Rabada @ 20y-244d youngest SAfrican to take a 7wkt haul in Tests Hugh Tayfield 7/23 was 20y-356d v Aus at Durban in Jan 1950 #SAvEng

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) January 24, 2016

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: England 318/8 in 98 overs; BATTING:  Moeen Ali 45(78), Stuart Broad 4(14): OUT! Duminy strikes in his first over of the match, with Woakes’s innings coming to an end after getting an edge, that loops the ball up in the air and gives Dean Elgar an easy catch in the slips. Moeen Ali, however, looks unstoppable thereafter, smashing boundaries at will off pacers and spinners alike! Brings up the 300 for England with a hook towards backward square-leg. Ali has raced away to 45 in no time, and looks set to bring up his fifty! OUT! Chris Woakes c Dean Elgar b JP Duminy 26(38)

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: England 286/7 in 90 overs; BATTING:  Moeen Ali 25(51), Chris Woakes 18(31): FOUR! Pulled away to glory by Stokes, who is beginning to display the usual aggression and arrogance against the Proteas. SIX! Stokes comes down the track, and smashes the ball into the oblivion over the bowler’s head! OUT! Rabada gets the new ball, and puts it to good use almost immediately! Bowls a tight line to Stokes between middle and off, and Stokes got a thick edge to Amla in the slips while attempting to push it towards the covers. Major breakthrough for South Africa, and now they appear favourites to enforce the follow-on on the visitors. Meanwhile, Ali and Woakes have dispatched a few deliveries towards the fence to settle down at the crease, and their stand will be important for England to cross the 300-run mark. OUT! Ben Stokes c Hashim Amla b Kagiso Rabada 33(29)

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: England 232/6 in 76.5 overs; BATTING:  Ben Stokes 13(12), Moeen Ali 9(20): RAIN STOPS PLAY Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali managed to bat out the 6 overs after lunch as England trailed South Africa by 264. Stokes and Moeen have managed to defend the South Africa bowlers.  And it begins to rain at the SuperSport Park, which looks threatening for South Africa given the rapid progress they are making at the moment.

 LIVE CRICKET SCORE: England 211/6 in 70 overs; BATTING:  Ben Stokes 1(3): LUNCH OUT!! OUT!! Such has been the final over of the day, Kagiso Rabada picks up James Taylor and Joe Root. Root made a well constructed 76 in 128 balls before Rabada got him to nick one to the keeper De Kock. Rabada next victim was Taylor who was out for 14 just on the brink of lunch. England go into lunch with all sorts of trouble with already 6 down trailing South Africa by 264 runs. England are survived by Ben Stokes batting on 1. Rabada has now has figures of 5 for 76.

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: England 209/4 in 70 overs; BATTING: James Taylor 13(39), Ben Stokes 0(1): MOrkel has increased his aggression levels against Root and Taylor after getting rid of Cook. Taylor manages to narrowly avoid a couple of vicious bouncers from the lanky pacer. Meanwhile, Taylor comes down the track, and launches Dane Piedt over mid-on for his second boundary of the innings. Root survives a dismissal scare after reviewing umpire Kumar Dharmasena’s decision to adjudge him caught behind of Peidt’s bowling. Short and going down leg, Root was looking to push it towards fine-leg when it appeared as if he got an edge. Meanwhile, Root responds by coming down the track, and driving the full-pitched delivery along off towards extra-cover! The boundary also brings up the 200 for England! OUT! Root departs, also for 76, after getting a thick edge off a delivery just outside off from Rabada, while looking to defend the delivery that ultimately straightens. Ben Stokes walks out to bat, with two set English batsmen getting dismissed off very good deliveries. OUT! Joe Root c Quinton de Kock b Kagiso Rabada 76(128)

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: England 181/3 in 60 overs; BATTING: Joe Root 58(104), James Taylor 4(4): Cook and Root walk out to bat, with Abbott set to bowl the first over of the day from the Hennops River end. Cook scores the first run of the morning with a single off Rabada 15 minutes after the start of play. FOUR! Driven with finesse by Root off a loose delivery from Abbott, with the ball racing away towards the cover boundary. Fifty for Joe Root! That’s the 19th time Root has brought up the milestone in his career! And let us not forget the dream form that he is right now! This is his fourth 50-plus score in the ongoing series. FOUR! Driven on the backfoot on the up towards point, with 16 runs coming off a very expensive over by Rabada. Cook survives a dismissal appeal from Morkel, with the Proteas review the decision. A horrible call by the hosts indeed, as there is a visible gap between bat and ball. OUT! Cook will have to wait a little more to get to 10,000 runs, as he edges a length delivery angling into the batsman to wicketkeeper de Kock! Good comeback by Morkel, as the solid 99-run stand for the third wicket comes to an end! OUT! Alastair Cook c Quinton de Kock b Morne Morkel 76(186)

England captain Alastair Cook made his first half-century of the series to keep his team in contention on the second day of the fourth and final Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park on Saturday. England were 138 for two at the close of play after Quinton de Kock’s maiden Test century took South Africa to a first innings total of 475. Cook, who had scored only 103 runs in six innings in the first three Tests, batted solidly to finish unbeaten on 67. England lost Alex Hales early, when he sliced a drive against Kagiso Rabada to Dane Piedt at point after making 15, reports AFP. Alastair Cook fifty guides England to 138/2 against South Africa at stumps on Day 2 of 4th Test at Centurion

Teams:

South Africa: Stephen Cook, Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers (c), JP Duminy, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wk), Kagiso Rabada, Dane Piedt, Kyle Abbott, Morne Morkel.

England: Alastair Cook (c), Alex Hales, Nick Compton, Joe Root, James Taylor, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.

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