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. Eng 108-2

    Joe Root isn't going to just pad away against Keshav Maharaj.

    The England captain unfurls a reverse sweep and batters it away for four.

    He tries again and misses.

    Live by the sweep, die by the sweep?

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    #bbccricket

    Daniel Johnson: Got to apologise. I’ve left the house twice today, both times we’ve lost a wicket. Locking myself in the living room now.

  3. Eng 104-2

    Lead by 150

    Anrich Nortje trying to dig it in at the ribs, with a short leg in close.

    Dom Sibley and Joe Root playing it well, knocking it down away for singles.

    Eek. Less convincing from Root last up as he just about rocks a pull shot through mid-wicket for one more.

    And that's the 150 lead for England.

  4. Hmm.

    Replays of that catch seem to show Dwaine Pretorius scrapes the ball along the grass as he takes it very low.

    Did the ground help the ball stay in his hands?

    Anyway. On we go.

  5. Eng 101-2

    Lead by 147

    Dom Sibley carefully sees off a maiden from Keshav Maharaj.

  6. Adam Mountford
    BBC Test Match Special in Cape Town

    South Africa flags being waved again in the crowd for the first time in a while as Denly is dismissed.

    South Africa fansBBC Sport

  7. Eng 101-2

    England captain Joe Root sees off his first delivery.

  8. A mate messaged me earlier saying he thought Joe Denly would get out for 33.

    You were two runs off, Dom.

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

    It's a shot Denly likes to play. Ed Smith picked Denly thinking he would be suited to international cricket because he plays string back-foot strokes.

    Joe DenlyGetty Images

  10. Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent in Cape Town

    That's a brilliant catch. He came in off the boundary edge, rolled over and took the ball very low indeed.

    Dwaine PretoriusGetty Images
  11. wicket

    WICKET

    Denly c Pretorius b Nortje 31 (Eng 101-2)

    Does this go down as a brain-fart?

    Anrich Nortje sends down a bumper aimed at Joe Denly's chin and the number three takes on the hook shot but miscues it towards wide fine leg.

    Dwaine Pretorius runs in and takes a fine low catch.

    Not sure that was the ball to be playing that shot to.

    Anrich NortjeReuters

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    Jonny Green: Good, proper Test match batting from England. Promising signs if they can keep this up.

  13. Steven Finn
    England bowler on The Cricket Social

    I can't criticise what South Africa are doing here. If you search for wickets, the scoreboard can get away from you and the game is lost.

  14. Eng 99-1

    Keshav Maharaj drops very short - a 'hit me' ball and Joe Denly obliges but can't get it through the gap to the fence. That's one.

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    Text 81111

    Over summer I had a dream about Joe Root where he repeatedly kept shouting 'ROOOOOT' during a cricket match. Funny at first but very annoying by the end. Monty Panesar was also there but he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. I met Joe in real life in London not long after but he was able to speak normally.

    Tom Lovelace

  16. Eng 98-1

    Lead by 144

    Anrich Nortje is now going round the wicket and banging it in short on the angle to the right-handers, not dissimilar to the tactics England have perhaps gone to in desperation in recent times.

    He's then back over the wicket and tighter on off-stump as Joe Denly defends.

    Wide last up and Denly cuts firmly away to the boundary rider for a single.

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    tms@bbc.co.uk

    Jimmy Anderson’s England number is 613. Zak Crawley is 695.

    I imagine that Jimmy has played with the vast majority of the 82 between them, and would’ve played with a large number of players who have a number pre 613. Is he close to having played with 100 other England cricketers?

    James Firebrace

  18. Eng 95-1

    Shot! Keshav Maharaj sends it down short and wide and Dom Sibley cuts with aplomb for four.

  19. Eng 90-1

    Denly happy to wait for Nortje to drop short so he can pull the ball for one.

  20. Any more cricket-related dreams?

    They have to be better than our colleague's very humdrum dream about Ben Stokes having Dean Elgar caught down the leg side in this Test.