After rain washed off the first two sessions of day four of the second Test between South Africa and India at the Wanderers, the on-field action is now all set to begin at 7:15 pm IST.
With 34 overs of play marked for the remaining time left in day four, play can be extended till 10pm IST if rain stays away.
“GOOD NEWS (Smiling face with open mouth). Day 4 gets underway at 15:45 with 34 overs to be bowled. #SAvIND #FreedomTestSeries #BetwayTestSeries #BePartOfIt,” said Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Twitter.
“The covers are off. (Clapping hands sign). The umpires have done their inspection. (Ok hand). Play is set to resume by 3:45 PM Local Time (07.15 PM IST) at the Wanderers, if there is no more rain. (Thumbs up) A total of 34 overs to be bowled,” read a tweet from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The day began with rain coming in on and off mode with covers on the pitch and square area. As per the weather forecast, rain along with thunderstorms had been predicted for the entire day. Though the update around noon suggested there could be some sun from 1-4pm local time, rain and clouds had been shown as well.
With overcast conditions in the Wanderers, one can expect for the ball to swing around for the Indian bowling attack due to the moisture on the pitch. It also means that batting will be a difficult task for South Africa, especially with the weather forecast for day five not great.
Coming to the match, South Africa captain Dean Elgar was gutsy in leading the way for his team with the bat as the hosts’ finished at 118/2 in 40 overs at stumps on day three. With two days left in the match, South Africa need 122 runs to level the series while India look for eight wickets to script their first-ever series victory in the ‘Rainbow Nation’.
India had set a target of 240 for South Africa after being all out for 266. Cameos from Shardul Thakur (28) and Hanuma Vihari (40 not out) took the lead past 200 after a stand of 111 runs off 144 balls between Cheteshwar Pujara (53) and Ajinkya Rahane (58) set the base for India to pose a tricky target for South Africa. For the hosts, Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi took three wickets each.
Brief scores:
India 202 & 266 in 60.1 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 58, Cheteshwar Pujara 53; Kagiso Rabada 3/77, Lungi Ngidi 3/43) against South Africa 229 and 118/2 in 40 overs (Dean Elgar 46 not out, Aiden Markram 31; Ravichandran Ashwin 1/14, Shardul Thakur 1/24), South Africa need 122 runs to win.
