Summary

  • Sibley nears maiden Test century

  • Sibley 85* - adds 116 with Root (61)

  • Root 61, Denly 31, Crawley 25

  • Nightwatchman Bess falls to final ball

  • Two wickets for Nortje

  • SA 223 - deficit of 46: Anderson 5-40

  • Stokes five catches - England record

  • SA lead 1-0 in four-Test series

  • Second Test, day three, Cape Town

Live Reporting

Stephan Shemilt

  1. Steven Finn
    England bowler on The Cricket Social

    The order of the day for South Africa is patience. Patience got that wicket of Joe Denly - now they need to try and do it again.

  2. Eng 114-2

    Lead by 160

    Keshav Maharaj is over the wicket, finding the edge of the rough and getting one to bite across Joe Root. It's a defensive line from the left-armer, but the presence of that rough can cause some problems. Left-handed batsmen will find it particularly tricky. There's noise in the crowd, though I'm not sure why....

  3. Mark Ramprakash
    Ex-England batsman on The Cricket Social

    Joe Root has made his intentions quite clear. He will see it as his role - not only as a batsman but as a captain - to move the game on at a quicker pace.

  4. Eng 110-2

    Very calm in Cape Town. Patrons are taking their time returning after tea. Linger at the bar. Savour the biltong. Root pulls a single to get us under way, then Sibley continues to dig his trench. It's a bit Jonathan Trott from Sibley, which is no bad thing.

  5. Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent in Cape Town

    England will try and grind South Africa down - there is no rush at all. There is still a long way to go. As we saw yesterday, final-session collapses can easily occur.

  6. Eng 109-2

    Here's Kagiso Rabada, bowling to Joe Root. Dom Sibley, hunting a first Test fifty, looks on...

  7. Get Involved

    Text 81111

    Dreamt last year about playing in my childhood back garden. Was fielding at square leg, with Ricky Ponting batting. Shot left arm out to catch him at full stretch and woke to find I’d smacked wife in the mouth. Strangely, she was uninterested in hearing what an outstanding, potentially Ashes-winning catch she’d just witnessed.

    Richard, London

  8. Good question. By the time the players have reached the dressing room, it's pretty much time to head back out. Which is what South Africa are doing right now...

  9. Get Involved

    #bbccricket

    Ben Willmott: Silly question, do players have cups of tea during a tea break? What do they do for it? It's only 20 minutes after all...

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  11. Keaton Jennings goes to my gym. Very nice fella. When my baby son was there, he wouldn't stop staring at Keaton, who was happy to pull some faces at him.

  12. I'm trying to think if there was a time I've ever not realised I'd encountered a cricketer, only for the penny to drop later.

    Or if I've ever fallen out with a cricketer. There have been a few times playing in the leagues, but nothing in everyday life.

    If you've ever rowed with Min Patel over a parent and child parking space, or pushed in front of Richard Blakey at the bar, let me know.

  13. Rob Beckett and Romesh Rangantahn are being interviewed on the telly. Beckett tells a tale of once working on the door at Kent and not allowing Rob Key in because Key didn't have his pass.

    Apparently it got a bit heated.

  14. Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent in Cape Town

    Denly might be one of those batsmen who, once he cracks three figures, he keeps pumping out the hundreds. He does keep getting in.

  15. Cheers, Jack. This is all going rather well for England, isn't it?

  16. Impressive from Dom Sibley so far - how long can he keep it going?

    Can Joe Root make a decisive score?

    Will South Africa fight back with a flurry of wickets?

    To help you find out the answers to these (relatively important) questions and plenty more whimsical ones besides, here is Stephan Shemilt...

  17. How's stat?!

    Andy Zaltzman
    Test Match Special statistician on The Cricket Social

    James Anderson has played with 92 other England players since he made his debut. There are six to have played for England but not with Anderson since then: Ian Blackwell, Rikki Clarke, Simon Jones, Jon Lewis, Martin Saggers and Olly Stone.

  18. Get Involved

    Text 81111

    I am so pleased they are playing slowly - so much of life is fast-paced - I love Test cricket and part of the test is the ability to occupy the crease.

    Shannon from Somerset

  19. Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent in Cape Town

    It's been a session of consolidation. England wanted to make sure they didn't let their position slip. It's been a bit quiet in the middle. Sibley has been calm. It's exactly what the situation demanded.

  20. Tea - Eng 109-2

    Lead by 155

    Next week, I'll struggle to recall anything that happened in this session.

    England scored 57 runs and only lost one wicket.

    But it's all the tourists needed to do, keep South Africa out there without much damage and keep adding to their lead - which stands at 155 going into tea on day three.

    Dom Sibley is 44 not out off 130 balls, doing a proper job of opening the batting. Joe Root has just started his knock and is unbeaten on seven.