7.3 – Oshane Thomas to Faf du Plessis. Short, outside off stump on the back foot Leave, shoulders arms to wicketkeeper for no runs, fielded by Hope. There is a bit of drizzle around this morning and the umpires have decided to take the players off. We have been playing in some very light rain but the umpires seem to be concerned about the footholes getting damp and too soft for the fast bowlers. Looking at the radar we could be off for an hour or so as some rain moves through but once that has passed it does look clearer behind and hopefully we won’t lose too many overs. Well I’m afraid the rain is still coming down in Southampton. The problem is that the weather is moving very slowly and the rain clouds seem to have filled in too so this wet weather is just sitting over the ground rather than clearing up. The latest from the ground is that it is still raining but it has eased slightly. Hopefully the worst has passed but as it is conditions are rather wet. The cut off time for play to resume is 5pm local time, that means we need to be playing in three hours time otherwise it will be a point to each side. For a brief moment some of the outer covers came off as the rain had almost stopped and the ground staff cleared away the water that was sitting on top of those sheets. However the drizzle has returned and time unfortunately is against us. Good news here as most of the outer sheets have been removed from the ground leaving just the wicket covered. At no point did the rain get very heavy so the ground is still in good condition. The umpires will be heading out again shortly hopefully to think about a possible restart time. There is still some damp weather around but let’s hope that misses the stadium and we can get a match back on. Chris Gayle is out posing for photos with fans with a big hat on his head and a big smile on his face. Sadly the umbrellas are back up and some of the sheets are coming back on as the relentless drizzle starts once again. Looking at the radar the weather is swirling around the stadium, we just can’t shake off this rain. We have just over an hour now until the cut off and the prospect of any more play sadly is fading away.
7.2 – Oshane Thomas to Faf du Plessis. Back of a length, outside off stump on the back foot Leave, shoulders arms to wicketkeeper for no runs, fielded by Hope.
7.1 – Oshane Thomas to Quinton de Kock. Back of a length, middle stump on the back foot Steer, to third man for 1 run, fielded by Roach.
6.6 – Sheldon Cottrell to Faf du Plessis. Back of a length, to leg on the back foot pushing, to short extra cover for no runs, fielded by Brathwaite.
6.5 – Sheldon Cottrell to Faf du Plessis. Back of a length, down leg side on the back foot working, to short mid wicket for no runs, fielded by Nurse.
6.4 – Sheldon Cottrell to Faf du Plessis. Back of a length, to leg on the back foot pushing, to point for no runs, shy attempt by Bravo.
6.3 – Sheldon Cottrell to Faf du Plessis. Length ball, to leg on the front foot defending, to mid off for no runs, fielded by Brathwaite.
6.2 – Sheldon Cottrell to Faf du Plessis. Short, down leg side ducked Leave, Left to wicketkeeper for no runs, fielded by Hope.
6.1 – OUT! Caught. Sheldon Cottrell to Aiden Markram. Short, down leg side on the back foot glancing, Gloved in the air uncontrolled to wicketkeeper, by Hope. Another ball short of a length and another wicket for a West Indies fast bowler in this tournament. Again extra bounce for Cottrell and again he hits the glove. Markram may feel a little bit unfortunate to have gloved one down the legside but he’s got to go, a sharp catch taken by Shai Hope.
5.6 – Kemar Roach to Quinton de Kock. Length ball, middle stump on the front foot pushing, to mid off for 2 runs, fielded by Thomas.
5.5 – Kemar Roach to Quinton de Kock. Length ball, outside off stump on the front foot driving, well timed to mid off for no runs, fielded by Thomas.
5.4 – Kemar Roach to Aiden Markram. Back of a length, outside off stump on the back foot working, to square leg for 1 run, fielded by Nurse.
5.3 – Kemar Roach to Aiden Markram. Short, outside off stump ducked Leave, Left to wicketkeeper for no runs, fielded by Hope.
5.2 – Kemar Roach to Aiden Markram. Length ball, outside off stump on the front foot defending, to silly mid on for no runs, fielded by Nurse.
5.1 – Kemar Roach to Aiden Markram. Back of a length, outside off stump on the back foot defending, to gully for no runs, fielded by Hetmyer.
4.6 – FOUR! Sheldon Cottrell to Quinton de Kock. Short, outside off stump on the back foot cutting, well timed past deep point for 4 runs. Hammered away square. Quinton de Kock has hit the fielder a couple of times this morning but that one is through and goes racing away.
4.5 – Sheldon Cottrell to Quinton de Kock. Length ball, middle stump on the front foot working, hit pad to short mid wicket for no runs, fielded by Nurse.
4.4 – Sheldon Cottrell to Quinton de Kock. Back of a length, outside off stump on the front foot driving, to deep backward point for 2 runs, run save by Roach.
4.3 – Sheldon Cottrell to Quinton de Kock. Length ball, outside off stump on the front foot driving, to extra cover for no runs, fielded by Holder.
4.2 – Sheldon Cottrell to Quinton de Kock. Short, off stump on the back foot Fended, Gloved in the air uncontrolled to short leg for no runs, fielded by Cottrell.
4.1 – Sheldon Cottrell to Quinton de Kock. Short, outside off stump on the back foot pulling, mis-timed in the air uncontrolled to mid wicket for 2 runs, fielded by Brathwaite.
3.6 – FOUR! Kemar Roach to Aiden Markram. Length ball, outside off stump on the front foot driving, well timed past deep extra cover for 4 runs. That’s a lovely drive, it beats extra cover and that will earn Markram four.
3.5 – Kemar Roach to Aiden Markram. Length ball, middle stump on the front foot working, to short mid wicket for no runs, fielded by Pooran.
3.4 – Kemar Roach to Aiden Markram. Back of a length, outside off stump on the back foot driving, to extra cover for no runs, fielded by Bravo.
3.3 – Kemar Roach to Aiden Markram. Length ball, outside off stump on the front foot pushing, to mid on for no runs, fielded by Thomas.
3.2 – Kemar Roach to Quinton de Kock. Short, down leg side on the back foot working, to backward square leg for 1 run, fielded by Cottrell.
3.1 – Kemar Roach to Quinton de Kock. Half volley, outside off stump on the front foot pushing, inside edge to silly point for no runs, fielded by Bravo.
3.1 – Wide Kemar Roach to Quinton de Kock. Length ball, down leg side on the front foot glancing, Play and Miss (Leg Side) to wicketkeeper for 1 run, fielded by Hope.
2.6 – Sheldon Cottrell to Aiden Markram. Back of a length, down leg side on the back foot working, hit pad to short mid wicket for no runs, fielded by Nurse.
2.5 – OUT! Caught. Sheldon Cottrell to Hashim Amla. Back of a length, off stump on the back foot cutting, Gloved in the air uncontrolled to first slip, by Gayle.
2.4 – Sheldon Cottrell to Hashim Amla., on the front foot pushing, to cover for no runs, fielded by Bravo.
2.3 – FOUR! Sheldon Cottrell to Hashim Amla. Half volley, outside off stump on the front foot driving, past deep point for 4 runs. Full and wide and Amla leans on the ball and sends it running away for South Africa’s first boundary.
2.2 – Sheldon Cottrell to Quinton de Kock. Short, outside off stump on the back foot pulling, for 3 runs, run save by Brathwaite, fielded by Pooran.
2.1 – Sheldon Cottrell to Quinton de Kock. Length ball, off stump on the front foot pushing, for no runs, fielded by Bravo.
1.6 – Kemar Roach to Hashim Amla. Length ball, outside off stump on the front foot defending, to fourth slip for no runs, fielded by Hetmyer.
1.5 – Kemar Roach to Hashim Amla. Seaming in back of a length, outside off stump on the back foot working, hit body to silly point for no runs, fielded by Hetmyer.
1.4 – Kemar Roach to Hashim Amla. Length ball, outside off stump on the front foot defending, to silly mid off for no runs, fielded by Roach.
1.3 – Kemar Roach to Quinton de Kock. Length ball, down leg side on the front foot working, to deep square leg for 1 run, fielded by Pooran.
1.2 – Kemar Roach to Quinton de Kock. Seaming away back of a length, down leg side on the front foot driving, to short extra cover for no runs, fielded by Bravo.
1.1 – NEW BALL. APPEAL! Kemar Roach to Quinton de Kock. Seaming away back of a length, down leg side on the front foot working, hit body to wicketkeeper for no runs, by Hope, appeal made for Caught. First ball from Kemar Roach in this World Cup and he wants a caught behind straight away. Paul Wilson thinks about it and then gives it out. Quinton de Kock spends a lot less time thinking about reviewing it, he does so immediately. Movement off the pitch for Roach across the left-hander, de Kock was looking to work the ball legside. He missed it by some margin though, the ball hitting his body and dying on its way to Hope. Easy one for the third umpire.
0.6 – Sheldon Cottrell to Hashim Amla. Length ball, outside off stump on the front foot pushing, to extra cover for 2 runs, fielded by Brathwaite.
0.5 – Sheldon Cottrell to Quinton de Kock. Back of a length, outside off stump on the back foot working, to square leg for 1 run, fielded by Pooran.
0.4 – Sheldon Cottrell to Quinton de Kock. Out-swinging half volley, outside off stump on the front foot pushing, mis-timed to silly mid on for no runs, fielded by Brathwaite.
0.3 – Sheldon Cottrell to Quinton de Kock. Out-swinging back of a length, outside off stump on the front foot pushing, missed to wicketkeeper for no runs, fielded by Hope.
0.2 – Sheldon Cottrell to Quinton de Kock. Out-swinging back of a length, outside off stump on the front foot driving, well timed to point for no runs, fielded by Hetmyer.
0.1 – NEW BALL. Sheldon Cottrell to Quinton de Kock. Length ball, outside off stump on the front foot Leave, Left to wicketkeeper for no runs, fielded by Hope.
