"No let-up – no freebies": Boland carnage continues

Day 2 saw 30.4 overs played as the rain cleared in Gqeberha and once again, Scott Boland produced the highlights.

South Africa are 5/97 at stumps with the Victorian quick with figures of 4/31 whilst South African captain Temba Bavuma remains 41*.

Despite another shortened day of play, there are plenty of talking points with the second half of the Test match set to deliver.

Scott Boland picks up where he left off

Boland struck in the third over of the day, removing debutant opener Marques Ackerman who departed for six after edging through to Alex Carey.

Simon Katich spoke of the quality of Boland’s bowling on SEN Cricket: “There’s just no let-up – no freebies. You’ve got to be sharp because Boland is all over you.”

Late in the day he removed Ryan Rickleton after a moment of brilliance from Matt Renshaw, breaking an important partnership after changing to the Duck Pond End. He finished the day with 4/31.

“The day belongs to Scott Boland again," Vernon Philander told SEN Cricket.

Renshaw stuns with a spectacular catch

After Marnus Labuschagne had earlier dropped Rickelton in leg slip, it looked like it could have proved costly. Enter Matt Renshaw, who took a Matrix-style screamer at first slip to give Boland his fourth wicket and a reprieve for Marnus.

It was utterly spectacular. “That is one of the best slips catches you’ll see," Katich said.

Gerard Whateley couldn't believe it, “He had no right to take that catch.”

Everything Renshaw touches this series is turning to gold.

Hazlewood ill

Josh Hazlewood did not make it to St George’s Park, with Cricket Australia releasing a statement shortly before play resumed: “Josh Hazlewood is unwell and will not take the field this afternoon.

He is expected to return to play tomorrow.” We hope Josh will be back in action tomorrow but it would have been handy to have all four seamers in full force with their tails up.

The Proteas hang in through an important partnership

Captain Temba Bavuma has shown resistance, and opened up the blade late on the day with a blistering shot into the car park to show that he means business after a lean showing in Durban.

Ryan Rickelton’s move down the order as he takes the gloves looks the right decision thus far, having built confidence through his innings before falling to a moment of brilliance from Renshaw.

You could argue with the conditions they might have won the session until Rickelton fell. “Can’t fault the skipper, he has really knuckled down," Katich said.

South Africa’s top order still has a problem with loose shots

The Proteas batting inclusions for this match Marques Ackerman and Matthew Breetzke failed to impact, both playing at balls they shouldn’t have and paying the price for it.

“You can’t help but shake your head at some of the shots the South Africans have played," Bharat Sundaresan said.

They still haven’t learned the lessons that were their downfall in Durban. With such high-quality bowling in both teams, the resilience of the batting line-ups could prove the difference.

A slog to get on… but we got there.

Play was scheduled to start at 9:45am local time, but we were never going to start on time. Rain stopped by around 11am local time, with the first ground inspection at 12:15pm. From there it was clear that condition of the outfield was the issue, with some wet and muddy patches proving slow to improve.

The next inspection was at 1:15pm, followed by another at 2:15pm, and then finally one more inspection at 3pm where we got a start time of 3:45pm. Cricket fans that stuck fat deserve praise for hanging in for play to get underway – it was six hours and 45 minutes of broadcasting for the SEN Cricket team from on-air to first ball of the day.

Scott Boland spoke with Bharat Sundaresan on SEN Cricket at stumps following his further two wickets on Day 2.

"Yeah, it's nice to have an impact pretty early in this first inning, so I think after winning the toss and bowling, playing four-seamers, it was nice to impact the game pretty early," Boland said.

"It gives you a bit of confidence and I felt pretty comfortable with the crease.

"It was pretty gusty from one end, so it wasn't like every ball felt really good, but I feel like with the conditions and a newish ball, I just try to get as many balls in the right area."

The Victorian quick only found out that he would be in the XI on the morning of Day 1 as conditions at St Georges Park looked to suit his style of pace.

"Yeah, I only I found out as we got to the ground, like it stopped raining, but yeah, I sort of knew it was gonna be between me and 'Gaz' (Nathan Lyon) and then yeah, I found out the morning of the game.

"I came to the ground the day before the game, just do the stuff I would usually do if I was playing, not knowing.

"I'd rather be overprepared and get to the game the morning of the day one and (rather than) be stressing that I haven't done everything I can, so it worked out well."

Play continues tonight with the first ball set to be bowled at 6:45pm (AEDT) and clear skies forecast. Catch all the action live across the SEN network.