Board President’s XI vs South Africa highlights at Vizianagaram: Markram shines on rain-hit day

16:40 hrs IST

Stumps Day 2

As expected. The light did not improve and stumps has been called on day 2. The day belonged to Aiden Markram, who scored a sparkling century after South Africa opted to bat first on a rain-hit day. Temba Bavuma too played his part with an unbeaten half century. As far as Board President XI bowlers were concerned, Umesh Yadav was very expensive. He did pick up the wicket of Dean Elgar but conceded runs at an economy rate of 4.43. Left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja picked up two wickets but he too was on the expensive side. South Africa ended the day at 199 for 4.

16:15 hrs IST

Bad light stops play

Bad light has stopped play at Vizianagaram with South Africa at 199 for 4. Generally the light doesn’t improve at this time and if it doesn’t, it will be stumps on day 2.

16:01 hrs IST

Du Plessis departs

OUT! Huge wicket, it’s the South African captain. Dharmendrasinh Jadeja gets his second wicket and both of them have been leg before wickets. Dun Plessis will be disappointed, he has squandered his only opportunity to get a score before the Test series. du Plessis departs for 9 off 29 balls. South Africa 199 for 4 after 50 overs.

15:45 hrs IST

The figures of BP XI bowlers

Umesh Yadav

7 overs, 0 maidens 1 wicket economy rate 4.43

Shardul Thakur

10 overs, 3 maidens, 34 runs, 0 wickets, economy 3.40

Ishan Porel

5 overs 1 maiden, 10 runs, 1 wicket, economy 2.00

Avesh Khan

10 overs, 1 maiden, 44 runs, 0 wicket, economy 4.40

Jalaj Saxena

7 overs, 1 maiden, 26 runs, 0 wicket, economy 3.71

Dharmendrasinh Jadeja

9 overs, 1 maiden, 51 runs, 1 wicket, economy 5.67

15:30 hrs IST

Fifty for Bavuma

Temba Bavuma gets to his half century. It has been a free-flowing innings from the young man. He has hit 9 boundaries and is batting on 53 off 84 balls at the moment. South Africa: 197 for 3 after 48 overs

15:00 hrs IST

Markram retires on 100

A brilliant innings from Aiden Markram. He gets to his century and decides he has had enough of match practice. Markram retires for 100 off 118 balls. His innings was laced with 18 fours and two sixes. South Africa: 187/3

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis comes out in the middle

14:40 hrs IST

Markam closing in on 100

150 up for South Africa. This has been a very very good partnership. The two experienced players Markram and Bavuma have got together to drag their side out of trouble and position them in a strong position. Their partnership is now 74 with Markram batting on 86 off 111 and Bavuma at 31 off 56. South Africa 152/3 after 38 overs.

14:30 hrs IST

Bavuma looking good

Temab Bavuma just looks a class apart. He had a very good debut in the T20Is prior to this and now has started off his red ball campaign on the right note. Ominous signs for the BP XI bowlers.

14:15 hrs IST

Fifty for Markram

There’s the half century for Aiden Markram, a very very good innings by the young man. We all knew he had potential and now he has give a first account of that with a very good innings.

14:05 hrs IST

Jadeja removes Hamza

OUT! LBW! A much needed breakthrough for BP XI, Hamza was threatening to take the game away from the hosts. But it wasn’t to be. Dharmendrasinh Jadeja gets the important wicket for India. Hamza goes for well made 22 off 26 balls. South Africa 78 for 3.

Temba Bavuma comes out to bat at No.5

13:50 hrs IST

Hamza on the charge

Right handed batsman Zubeyr Hamza has taken it upon himself to tear the BP XI bowling attack apart. It appears that Hamza has walked out to bat thinking this as T20 game. Otherwise how would you explain a strike rate of 91.66 on rain-effected damp pitch? He is batting on 22 off 24 balls with 3 fours and a six. South Africa: 78/2 after 21 overs.

13:35 hrs IST

Fifty up for South Africa

There’s the fifty for the visitors.They have lost a couple of wickets but that hasn’t deterred them from playing their shots. Aiden Markram is leading from the front with his positive intent. He is batting on 32 off 54 balls at the moment with 7 boundaries. South Africa 55 for 2 after 17 overs.

13:15 hrs IST

Porel strikes

Brilliant from youngster, brings the ball back to de Bruyn and he had no answer. Ishan Porel strikes and BP XI have their second wicket. de Bruyn goes for 6 off 17 balls. South Africa: 33/2 after 12.3 overs.

Zubayr Hamza is the next man in for South Africa.

13:10 hrs IST

Ishan Porel comes into the attack

Good start by Ishan Porel. He starts off with a maiden. The Bengal lad who was a part India’s U-19 team’s World Cup winning squad in 2018 has been on the radar ever since. This is a good opportunity for him to grab the eyeballs of the selectors

13:00 hrs IST

Umesh Yadav strikes

Just as we were talking about how wayward Umesh has been, he decides to turn it around and in some style. He removes Dean Elgar to give India’s Board President XI the first breakthrough, Priyank Panchal takes the catch. Elgar departs for 6 off 18 balls. South Africa: 23/1 in 6.1 overs.

T de Bruyn is comes in to bat at No.3

12:55 hrs IST

Flying Markram and wayward Umesh

Not the start Umesh Yadav was looking for, he has given away four fours in two overs and has been taken to the cleaners Markram. The South Africa captain looks in fine touch, the same unfortunately, cannot be said about Umesh, who has been wayward to say the least. South Africa 27/0 after 6 overs

12:40 hrs IST

Solid start

Umesh Yadav bowled a pretty good first over but both South African openers got off the mark. Shardul Thakur started off brilliantly, he bowled a maiden in his first over. South Africa 2/0 after 2 overs

12:30 hrs IST

Markram and Dean Elgar are the openers

Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar have walked out to open the batting for South Africa. It looks it will be Umesh Yadav who will start the proceedings for India with the new ball.

12:15 hrs IST

All the members can bat or bowl

This game hasn’t been given official status meaning all the members of the sides can bat or bowl. This, however, doesn’t mean that more than 11 cricketers get to bat or bowl in an innings.

12:05 hrs IST

The sides

South Africa (Batting XI, Fielding XI): Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar, Theunis de Bruyn, Faf du Plessis (c), Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock(w), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Dane Piedt, Heinrich Klaasen, Zubayr Hamza, Senuran Muthusamy

Board Presidents XI (Batting XI, Fielding XI): Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma(c), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Priyank Panchal, Karun Nair, Siddhesh Lad, Srikar Bharat(w), Jalaj Saxena, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Avesh Khan, Ishan Porel

11:55 hrs IST

Toss update

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has won the toss and has decided to bat first. It wasn’t such a difficult decision after all. With a day and a half lost due to rain, there was no option for South Africa but to bat first.

11:45 hrs IST

Some good news

Looks like we are going to have some action. Finally, the weather has cleared out and the captains could walk out for the toss at moment now.

11:40 hrs IST

Vihari excited for home Test debut

“First time, I will be playing international in India for India. It is very exciting. That too in Vizag, my home association. I am looking forward to it,” said India middle order batsman Hanuma Vihari. (Here’s the full story)

11:20 hrs IST

‘I should’ve scored more centuries

“It is a little bit frustrating. If I look back at my brief Test career, there have been opportunities where I could have added a lot more hundreds in that century column. But things have just happened the way they do. In my mind, my goal is to contribute to the team and obviously, in the end, you will be judged on the meaningful contributions that you make—the hundreds that you make—and that is definitely something that is within my sight. So, it isn’t so much pressure, rather it eggs me on,” said Temba Bavuma. (Read the full interview here)

11:05 hrs IST

Weather forecast

Things not looking that good at the moment. There are chances of thunderstorms between 1-2 PM with more than 50% chances of heavy rain. The rain expected to continue till 4 PM, meaning there is very little chance of any play even today.

10:45 hrs IST

Suresh Raina comeback

As we wait for the match to begin here is some interesting bit to read about Suresh Raina. “I can be the No. 4 for India. I have batted in that slot before and delivered. I am looking forward to an opportunity with two T20 World Cups coming up,” the 32-year-old told The Hindu on Thursday. (Read the full story here)

10:25 hrs IST

What’s at stake?

Generally, focus is on the visiting side more in a practice game. But this BP XI vs South Africa match is slightly different in that respect. There will be as much focus (if not more) on India’s BP XI as there will be on South Africa. Rohit Sharma will open in whites for the first time and then Umesh Yadav will give a trial run before the Test series. Yadav obviously, replaced Bumrah in India’s Test squad after the latter was ruled out.

10:10 hrs IST

Players to watch out for

BP XI: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Umesh Yadav, Jalaj Saxena, Shardul Thakur

South Africa: Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Vernon Philander, Lungi Ngidi

9:55 hrs IST

Here’s a look at the squads

Board President’s XI: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, AR Easwaran, Karun Nair, Siddhesh Lad, KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Jalaj Saxena, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Avesh Khan, Ishan Porel, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav

South Africa Test squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Temba Bavuma (vc), Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second.

9:40 hrs IST

Start delayed

The rains have relented but the wet outfield is a huge concern. It has forced a delay even on the second day. The match was supposed to start at 9:30 local time but it has now been confirmed that the start has been delayed due to wet outfield.

9:25 hrs IST

Weather update

According to weather reports there is a heavy cloud cover at the Dr PVG Raju ACA Sports Complex,Vizianagaram. It has been raining here since morning, though it’s not relentless but it’s enough to keep the players inside the dressing room. Looks like another long day for the players of both side and us.

9:15 hrs IST

No early start

We are closing on start time of Day 2 and the toss is yet to take place. This really doesn’t augur well. The Day 1 washed out and the chances of an early start on second day to make up at least some of the lost overs has gone up in smoke pretty early.

9:05 hrs IST

The focus remains

Apart from the visiting South African side, all eyes will be on Rohit Sharma, who will open for the first time in red ball cricket and Umesh Yadav, who has been drafted into the Indian Test side as a replacement of the injured Jasprit Bumrah

9:00 hrs IST

Day 2

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the three-day practice match between India’s Board President’s XI and South Africa at Vizianagaram. There was no play on Day 1. So we keep our fingers crossed for some action today.