Summary

  • Cook & Hales survive six overs

  • Bavuma 102* - maiden Test century

  • First black African to score Test ton for SA

  • Amla 201, Du Plessis 88, Morris 69

  • England drop eight catches in innings

  • England lead 1-0 in four-match series

Live Reporting

Stephan Shemilt

  1. 200 runs

    200 for Hashim Amla

    SA 428-3

    Hashim AmlaRex Features

    Well batted, Hashim Amla. The captain, such a flat figure on the second morning, brings up a double century with a single to mid-on. Newlands erupts, former skipper Graeme Smith emerges from the commentary box to applaud and Amla soaks it all up. England dropped him twice and he has made them pay. 

  2. dropped catch

    Close!

    Jonathan Agnew
    BBC Test Match Special

    "Neither fielder saw it, they were both looking at each other and in the end neither went for it.

    "That's an absolute gaper - what a missed chance."

  3. dropped catch

    Close!

    SA 427-3

    Hashim Amla hits the ball high but isn't caughtGetty Images

    Close! Amla skies the ball, Joe Root and Alastair Cook run back. Can they get there? It lands safe of Root, who I think might have first run in the wrong direction. Amla to 199...

  4. Coming up on TMS

  5. SA 425-3 (trail by 204)

    Joe Root, Jame Taylor and James Anderson inspect the ballGetty Images

    I'm thinking that even if the third new ball is available before lunch, England won't bother to take it before the break. Root sprints through another maiden. There are eight minutes before the break and two overs before the new conker is due. Our pre-lunch excitement will focus on Amla's hunt for 200. He'll take strike on 197...

  6. Staying power

    Hashim Amla graphicBBC Sport

  7. SA 423-3 (Amla 197 from 457 balls)

    Is that the real Hashim Amla, or a man wearing a fake beard? He dances to meet a Moeen full toss, miscuing it down the ground for four. Joe Root, the fielder, does a belly flop into the ground and head-butts the boundary rope. Amla turns round the corner for another four to close in on 200.

  8. Jonathan Agnew
    BBC Test Match Special

    "It's not a bad pitch - if Ben Stokes hadn't done what he'd done then we wouldn't be watching this cricket.

    "South Africa are having to be patient about accumulating runs to get up to England's total - they've got no option. What they've done is exemplary."

    Geoffrey Boycott responds: "But it doesn't make it good for Test cricket's future."

  9. SA 415-3

    All this talk of bears has got me thinking that the introduction of a couple of bears to this match might liven it up a little. Perhaps we could ask them to umpire? Imagine Joe Root trying to hand his cap to a crotchety grizzly before he starts his over. Then trying to run in as the beast paws at him. Hashim Amla wouldn't bat any differently. He just turns a single on the leg side. 

  10. View from the press box

  11. SA 414-3 (trail by 215)

    Faf Du PlessisGetty Images

    Do either of these sides think they can win this match? If South Africa bat for the rest of the day, might they fancy bowling England out tomorrow? Like Shane Warne at Adelaide in the 06-07 Ashes? Still Moeen to Du Plessis, yet another maiden.

  12. Bear attacks

    Email tms@bbc.co.uk

    Q: How do you tell the difference between a black bear and a brown bear when they chase you up a tree?

    A: The black bear will climb up the tree after you whereas the brown bear will knock down the tree.

    Stephen Briggs

  13. SA 414-3 (Amla 188, Du Plessis 78)

    In the crowd there are a group of people wearing hollowed out watermelons as hats. That can't be comfortable in this heat. Root to Du Plessis, who goes temporarily insane, turn around, kicks his stumps over and storms off the ground. Not really, he eases a drive through the covers for four. There are six overs before the third new ball is due.

  14. Geoffrey Boycott
    Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

    "This is just a nightmare scenario. It's unfortunate that you get odd situations with a pitch like this where there's nothing for the bowler and there's no competition."

  15. SA 406-3 (trail by 223)

    Mark, that is one of my all-time favourite tweets to #bbccricket. It is brilliant advice. It makes me wonder what other life rules we should all adhere to? Still Moeen, targeting the legs of Du Plessis, who could probably bat without pads at the moment.

  16. Bear attacks

    #bbccricket

    A black bear in a treeAP

    Mark Ellingham: If you're chased by a black bear, don't climb a tree. They are expert climbers and you'll just end up fighting a bear, in a tree.

  17. SA 404-3 (Amla 187, Du Plessis 70)

    The scoreboard warns the crowd of the heat and tells them to drink plenty of fluids. Not water, fluids. There's a brewery next door, remember. Some male England fans, topless, rub suncream into the big torsos as if they are basting the Christmas turkey. Root sprints through a maiden.

  18. Graeme Smith
    Ex-South Africa captain on BBC Test Match Special

    "A performance like this from South Africa, with the captain scoring runs, can help a feel good factor come back into the dressing room.

    "They'll be looking to set up for the rest of the series - the cricket will be different up in Johannesburg though. Hopefully there will be more in it for the bowlers, it can swing up there."

  19. SA 404-3 (trail by 225)

    Moeen Ali bowls to Hashim AmlaAFP

    "Come on guys, it's still doing plenty!" Is Jonny Bairstow drunk? Or delirious from too much wicketkeeping? The ball is doing nothing. As Moeen sends it down, it is like Margaret Thatcher - not for turning. There's no noise from the crowd. They've probably gone off for an early lunch.

  20. Get Involved

    #bbccricket

    Andy Sykes: When is the last time two sides have only batted once in a five-day Test that's not been weather-affected?