England slumped to a dissapointing 262 for nine on day one of the second Test against South Africa, another underwhelming score in a tour that is lurching from bad to worse.
After a heavy defeat in the series opener at Centurion and two injury blows 24 hours before the second Test, captain Joe Root must have hoped his luck was turning when he won the toss and opted to bat on a friendlier looking surface.
England have talked tirelessly about the importance of big first-innings runs but under-delivered once again in Cape Town, with Ollie Pope’s unbeaten 56 the high point of an otherwise unimpressive showing.
It makes matters worse that paceman Archer is missing due to an elbow injury, while opening batsman Burns limped out of the squad’s pre-training football match and will miss the remainder of the series.
talkSPORT 2 will bring you full coverage of the match and England legend Kevin Pietersen will be joining our commentary team at the PPC Newlands Cricket Ground.
England vs South Africa: How to listen
Every match of the tour will be live on the talkSPORT network and you can catch exclusive commentary of the second Test on talkSPORT 2.
Coverage of day two begins with Mark Butcher at 7:30am UK time, with the action getting under way at 8:30am.
You can listen to all the action by clicking here or clicking the radio player below.
England vs South Africa: Squads
England Test squad: Joe Root (capt), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (wk), Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope (wk), Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Dom Bess.
South Africa Test squad: F Du Plessis (capt), T Bavuma, Q De Kock (wkt), D Elgar, B Hendricks, K Maharaj, P Malan, A Markram, Z Hamza, A Nortje, D Paterson, A Phehlukwayo, V Philander, D Pretorius, K Rabada, R Second (wkt), R Van Der Dussen.
Team news
England vs South Africa: Tour dates
- December 26-30, 1st Test, Centurion – South Africa won by 107 runs
- January 3-7, 2nd Test, Cape Town (08:30 GMT)
- January 16-20, 3rd Test, Port Elizabeth (08:00 GMT)
- January 24-28, 4th Test, Johannesburg (08:00 GMT)
- January 31, v SA Invitation XI, Paarl (08:00 GMT)
- February 1, v South Africa A, Paarl (08:00 GMT)
- February 4, 1st ODI, Cape Town (d/n) (11:00 GMT)
- February 7, 2nd ODI, Durban (d/n) (11:00 GMT)
- February 9, 3rd ODI, Johannesburg (08:00 GMT)
- February 12, 1st Twenty20 international, East London (d/n) (16:00 GMT)
- February 14, 2nd Twenty20 international, Durban (d/n) (16:00 GMT)
- February 16, 3rd Twenty20 international, Centurion (12:30 GMT)
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