Intermittent spells of rain played spoilsport and washed the entire day’s play of the second day of the first Test between India and South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
India were to resume their batting effort from a position of relative strength at 272/3 on the back of a century from KL Rahul and classy batting from Ajinkya Rahane and Mayank Agarwal. However, their progress in the game has been halted by the rain and now the tourists will have to force the issue if they want to make the best use of their batting performance on the first day.
The Proteas would not mind rain interruptions and washouts on the second day as they can expect Indian batsmen to make mistakes when trying to make things happen on the third day. Also, they will have to face less time on the field giving examination against Indian bowling attack and could get away with a draw despite poor bowling performance on the first day.
The weather forecast for the third and fourth day looks promising but the fifth and final day of the Test too is under serious clouds of uncertainty and the hosts would be delighted to end the game without handing India a 1-0 advantage in three-match long series.