‘A’ series finely poised approaching final day

Cape Town - Stephen Cook struck a second-consecutive half-century as SA 'A' team ended day three of the CSA Four-Day match against India 'A' with a 184-run lead and six wickets in hand at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom on Monday.

They are one-nil up in the two-match series.

It was a patience game by Cook who returned unbeaten for 55 off 162 balls (seven fours) as the home side posted 138/4 at the close. He and Andile Phehlukwayo (29*) put on 50 runs for the fifth wicket, after they had lost Aiden Markram (19), David Miller (18), Jason Smith (0) and Heinrich Klaasen (5) cheaply up front.

India’s Ankit Rajpoot (1/15), Navdeep Saini (1/30), Shahbaz Nadeem (1/39) and Krishnappa Gowtham (1/39) all chipped in with a scalp each after their side was bowled out for 276 earlier in the day, leaving South Africa with a 46-run lead ahead of their second innings.

Dane Piedt (4/70) and Dane Paterson (3/48) added a combined five wickets to their overnight tally, with Shaun von Berg (2/84) and Duanne Olivier (1/55) chipping in with one each today.

Day four begins at 09:30.