• SA bowl first against Archer-less England

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    England captain Joe Root won the toss and opted to bat first on day one of the second Test against the Proteas at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday.

    The Proteas replaced the injured Aiden Markram with debutant Pieter Malan. First Test debutant Rassie van der Dussen was retained ahead of the fit-again Temba Bavuma.

    The English lost opening batsman Rory Burns to injury earlier this week. He has been ruled out the rest of the series due to a hurt ankle.

    Fast bowler Jofra Archer, too, was sidelined from this match by an elbow injury. The out-of-form Jonny Bairstow was dropped from the XI. Opener Zak Crawley, middle-order batsman Ollie Pope and spinner Dom Bess were recalled.

    This is Proteas all-rounder Vernon Philander’s final Test at Newlands. He will retire from international cricket at the end of this series in favour of a Kolpak contract with Somerset in English county cricket. Philander has taken 51 wickets in 10 Tests at Newlands.

    The hosts lead the four-match series. They won the first Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion inside four days, thanks largely to a Player of the Match performance from wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock and seven wickets from fast bowler Kagiso Rabada.

    St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth and the Wanderers in Johannesburg will host the third and fourth Test, respectively, later this month.

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    South Africa: Pieter Malan, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Faf du Plessis (captain), Rassie van der Dussen, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Dwaine Pretorius, Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje.

    England: Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Denly, Joe Root (captain), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Sam Curran, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.

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