2nd Test: South Africa v England at Cape Town

16 without loss

Stumps Day 4

Brilliant from Bavuma. He may be small in stature, but that was a giant of an innings. What I have seen of him so far, he is also an incredible fielder at short leg.

England will rue the multiple (10, I think) missed opportunities in this Test. It was a long hot day in the field and the pitch wasn't offering a lot, but to drop that many chances, albeit many of the tougher variety, makes winning a Test match just about impossible.

Only one team can lose now and that is us.

Well done Bavuma. Yes a flat track but he scored at a rate of knots for most of his innings.

I simply cannot explain those 9 dropped catches, especially after Smith poo-poohed suggestions that sighting the ball was difficult at the venue!

This Test also brought up the conundrum England face regarding Bairstow. He was magnificent with the bat but once again put down another catch that he should have taken. I know that teams have moved away from specialist glovemen and expect their keepers to be a big part of the middle order, but it is hard to gloss over these types of missed chances if they happen every Test.

I see  that the other way around..only the Saffies can lose!

Cook goes in the second over and England's nerves will be jangling. He strangles one down the legside off Rabada. He will be furious with himself. 17/1.

Chris Morris may well have outdone his slip catch in the first innings. Hales goes to a stunner of a catch. He looked all at sea this morning. Very tentative.

England are wobbling. A disastrous start and a collapse is on the cards here. England 19/2. This would be a real gut-punch of a loss.

Yikes. Joe Root edges one to de Villiers at second slip but is saved by Morne Morkel overstepping the line. What a costly error from Morkel. A big let off for England. Beefy was getting quite animated in the commentary box with the length of time it took Rod Tucker to make the no-ball decision. England 42/2.

Oh my. I can't watch. Root bowled all ends up. What a beauty of a first ball of the morning from Chris Morris. England 55/3. Surely they can't lose this, can they?  ::confused::

Rabada drops Taylor. A very tough chance, but a chance nonetheless. Replays show that he actually caught it but as he hit the ground, the ball bounced out. A big let off for England. 85/3.