Hashim Amla has played many bigger and longer innings for the Proteas but for skill, adaptability and by no means least sheer courage his latest effort was right up there with the best.

He finished on 61 off 121 balls with 7 four but, if you consider that the other five specialist batsmen in the South African top order made 27 runs between them, you would have been left wondering where the home side would have been without him.

The Proteas achieved their first objective of bowling India out cheaply on day one of the 3rd Sunfoil Freedom Test match at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium but they well have reached the close reflecting that they could have done even better.

On a day of struggle for the batsmen India were bowled out for 187 in 77 overs to which the Proteas replied with 6 runs for the loss of Aiden Markram’s wicket in a tricky 6 overs before the close.

Proteas opening batsman, Aiden Markram, has been passed fit for selection for the third Sunfoil Test match against India starting at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on Wednesday. Markram injured his left quadricep during the 135-run win in the second match at Centurion, and was unable to field during India’s second innings.

The return of the opener brings welcome stability to the top of the order, as the selectors are once again faced with a selection conundrum for the Wanderers green-top. Captain, Faf du Plessis, says they will be keeping their ‘options open’ – including the possibility of an all-pace attack – as the Proteas look to seal a 3-0 series victory.

Lungi Ngidi took six wickets in an innings and four of the last seven on the final day to lead the Standard Bank Proteas to victory over India by 135 runs in the second Sunfoil Freedom Test match at SuperSport Park on Wednesday.

This victory also enabled the Proteas to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series with only the final match left to be played at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium from next Wednesday.

India returned some of the largesse that the Proteas had dished out to them on day one as the two battled for first innings superiority on day two of the second Sunfoil Freedom Test match at SuperSport Park on Sunday.

India’s key initial target was to remove the remaining four Proteas first innings wickets as quickly as possible when play resumed but they made life hard for themselves as they missed two chances offered by Kagiso Rabada and one by Faf du Plessis as the latter rallied the home side’s lower order to the extent that they put on 83 runs for the last four wickets, 66 of which were scored on the second morning as Du Plessis completed 17th career half-century (63 off 142 balls, 9 fours).

India beat Bangladesh by 10 wickets at the 5th ODI Blind Cricket World Cup in UAE today. Magnificent Partnership between Skipper Ajay Kumar Reddy & Sunil Ramesh ensured a smooth victory for India and continued to be on top position on the points table.

South Africa suffered a potentially disastrous double run out for the second time in six months against India as the visitors arguably had the better of day one when the second Sunfoil Freedom Test match got underway at SuperSport Park on Saturday.

In the closing hour that bore an uncanny reminder of what happened in the ICC Champions Trophy in England last year the Proteas went from a comfortable and controlling 246/3 to 269/6 at the close.