2nd Test: South Africa v England at Cape Town

deserve a celebration !  ;D

                                         

100th Test to Umpire Aleem Dar :

                           

Joe Root new years' resolution was to convert all his 50s

but alas , knock self on head !

JE Root c †de Kock b Morris  50           (113m 79b 5x4 0x6) SR: 63.29

                   

A good day for England. Cook finally won a toss and the entire team - sans Taylor - contributed. Hales batted well. Compton too, until he tried to up the tempo, although he was unfortunate with his dismissal. Root was Root, all he seemingly does is score fifties, and Stokes showed why he can be such a game changer. Those thirty-minutes prior to the close of play wrestled control back over to England after South Africa had done a great job of clawing their way back into the match with two wickets either side of tea.

From South Africa's point of view, I thought Rabada bowled very well, though he will need to work on his footwork, both times he picked up wickets, he came perilously close to overstepping the line.

I thought this was a cracking day of Test match cricket. Beautiful weather, a good crowd, a pitch that offered some bounce but also allowed the batsman to play their shots.

Absolute carnage from Stokes and Bairstow this morning, scoring 196 runs from 25 overs before lunch. Stokes set the tone early in the morning as England scored 45 from the first four overs. Every South African bowler got pasted around the ground. More records than I can possibly type have fallen. Stokes knock is arguably the greatest swashbuckling Test innings I have ever witnessed. At one point during the morning, Amla had 6 men out on the boundary and Stokes took them on, demolishing boundary after boundary.

What a morning of cricket. The beautiful backdrop of Tabletop Mountain, baking hot sun, a packed house in full voice and two cricketers putting on an exhibition out in the middle. Cricket does not get any better than that. That was a privilege to watch.

Well played Ben Stokes, well played. He is finally dismissed, via a run out after ABDV drops a skier, for 258. A stunning performance of sheer brilliance. What a joy to watch. He, myself, and everyone else that watched this live, will remember this innings for many, many years to come. England declare on 629/6.

Indeed ....what aggression in strokeplay ! 

85 -2

Elgar exits on 44 to a fantastic gully catch !

127 - 2 after 38. 2 overs

Amla 50 * AB 25*

Current partnership 42 runs, 13.1 overs, RR: 2.88 (Amla 16, de Villiers 25)

141 - 2

Hashim 64*

Current partnership 56 runs, 18.1 overs, RR: 3.08 (Amla 30, de Villiers 25)

Stumps day 2