Rain plays spoilsport in Cape Town
cape town — Rain prevented any play on the third day of the first Test between South Africa and India at Newlands on Sunday, but with fine weather expected for the remaining two days there is still a good chance of a result.
South Africa were on 65 for two in their second innings — an overall lead of 142 — at the close of play on Saturday.
With a potential 98 overs on both Monday and Tuesday, the bowlers of both sides will be hoping for more success on a pitch which has helped the fast bowlers.
South Africa will be without fast bowler Dale Steyn, who suffered a left heel injury on Saturday. He was consulting a specialist on Sunday and was not at the ground but initial estimates were that he would be out of action for between four and six weeks.
Unseasonal rain fell for much of the day across drought-stricken Cape Town. There was a brief break in the weather at lunch-time when the ground staff started to remove the covers, only for rain to return.
Meanwhile, on Saturday night South African pacer Kagiso Rabada has ascertained that his side are slightly ahead in the first Test as they now enjoy an overall lead of 142 runs with eight wickets in hand, going into the third day of the opening Test. “We are slightly ahead and we are not going to give in. We need more hard work but we will take it at the end of the day. After the sort of momentum India got in the second session, we would take that lead,” said Rabada at the end of the day’s play. “Obviously, we were hoping for a bigger lead but India are not going to roll over and we expected that. That is what they showed out there,” Rabada added.
“It is tough to say what fourth innings score we are looking for right now. We are looking at batting time, looking to bat normally and see what happens from there. We want to make it hard for them to score,” he added.
Dale Steyn has been ruled of the remainder of the series with a bruised heel. This was his comeback Test but he lasted only 18.3 overs before an awkward landing on a foothole impeded his return.
“It’s never nice for Dale Steyn because he’s just come back from injury, so just feeling very sympathetic for him. It’s not a nice thing, but we have to find a way to win this Test match. Luckily this time, we went with four seamers. So there’s three seamers now that have to do the work,” said Rabada.
“We are slightly ahead and we are not going to give in. We need more hard work but we will take it at the end of the day.”