Live Updates

  • 8:52 PM IST

    End of the day’s play. South Africa 269 for 6. What an end to the day!

  • 8:46 PM IST

    Now Bumrah is back into the attack for the final over of the day.

  • 8:42 PM IST

    What’s happening here. Bumrah bowls 2 balls with the old ball and finishes the over with the new cherry. Ashwin bowls with the new ball from the other end. The next over is now given to Ishant. An eventful half an hour.

  • 8:40 PM IST

    What just happened there? Ashwin, bowling with the new ball, baited Maharaj to target the deep midwicket boundary, he did so and guess what, the fielder there misjudged it. He was around 15 yards inside the fence. A boundary. Another missed opportunity.

  • 8:33 PM IST

    Bumrah bowls 2 balls with the old ball and midway the second new ball has been taken.

  • 8:26 PM IST

    What’s going on? Are South Africans champions at this. Philander tried to fend a Pandya short ball that lobs up and falls between two close-in fielders and the wicketkeeper. There’s no calling whatsoever and Philander sets for a run. He is ball watching and doesn’t sees or hears Faf’s loud NOs. A needless run out. India have comeback strong.

    OUT! Vernon Philander run out 0 (6)

  • 8:17 PM IST

    If you have a guy like Pandya in the side, it’s an asset. He brings a lot to the table. He converts a half chance. Amla perishes to brilliant fielding. He fends and sets off for a quick single. He thinks the throw will be at the batter’s end but Pandya is smart enough to figure that Amla hasn’t made it yet and rockets a throw to the non-strikers end. Amla is short of the crease.

    Makes sense to not take the new ball and continue Ashwin as de Kock loves the new ball. Well, as I write this. QDK falls off the first ball. QDK attempts a lazy shot, gets an edge to Kohli at first slip.

    OUT! Hashim Amla run out (Hardik Pandya) 82 (153)

    OUT! Quinton de Kock c Virat Kohli b Ravichandran Ashwin 0 (1)
  • 8:04 PM IST

    80 overs. The new ball is due. South Africa have done well to be at 245 for 3. Amla moves to 82.

  • 7:48 PM IST

    It’s drinks. Amla’s 29th Test ton seems minutes away. Four overs to the new ball. Will we see Shami with some reverse swing?

  • 7:34 PM IST

    Pandya returns for his fourth spell. He is bowling to Faf, the man he dismissed in the first innings of the Newlands Test.

09 (1)

Hello and welcome to the live blog of the second Test between India and South Africa at Centurion. I, Suvajit Mustafi, will be bringing all the live updates, highlights as well as interesting posts from the social media universe. The first Test was played at a fast bowlers paradise. It had movement that assisted the bowlers while there was bounce that the batsmen could make use of. Centurion, too, might have a similar kind of pitch to offer. Not quiet in terms of movement but pace and bounce. Centurion pitch curator Bryan Bloy mentioned that the track will be ‘lively’. 

India have lot to ponder about. Will Ajinkya Rahane and KL Rahul be included? The chances of the latter’s inclusion is high as he had an extended net session. Several former cricketers have unanimously voted for Rahane and Rahul. Kohli, however, shut the critics in his pre-match conference. Kohli said: “outside opinions do not form playing XI. It will be interesting to see what is the composition that Kohli would settle for in the second Test.”

Wriddhiman Saha is down with a hamstring injury and Parthiv Patel may get a game, while Ishant Sharma is expected to replace the in-form Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

On the other hand, Faf du Plessis will hope for a series win at a venue where the hosts are barely threatened. However, South Africa will have to bring in a reliable pacer in place of injured Dale Steyn.

Squads: 

India: Virat Kohli (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Lokesh Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Parthiv Patel

South Africa: Faf du Plessis (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Andile Phehlukwayo, Duanne Olivier, Lungisani Ngidi