Close: So as you probably gathered, technical issues prevented me from keeping you up to date during the last two sessions. So much for live blogging... Anyway, a few things worth mentioning. Prince and Duminy both showed some sort of form, with Duminy the more fluid of the two. He struggled a bit initially after coming in under tough circumstances - the spinners were having some success and had very attacking fields - but managed to get himself in. Kallis and Amla were brilliant - both scoring at a healthy rate and not putting a foot wrong. Steyn smashed three huuuge sixes in one over off Ashwin, but then got out to end the match (SA decided against a little bowl despite there being plenty of time, and instead enjoyed a game of football). Ashwin and Chawla both impressed, taking seven of the eight wickets to fall, but there were also encouraging performances from Mithun and Vinay Kumar, although Kumar didn't get to bowl as much as he deserved. That'll do for now, be sure to catch the full report and post-play reaction, and let's look forward to a good series. Cheers.

Tea: The tea break arrives with De Villiers being bowled by a scuttler from Chawla that barely got above ankle height. It was the googly, and must have hit a certain area on the pitch. He goes for 27, while JP Duminy is not out on 27 and South Africa are 283 for three from 68.4 overs. Mark Boucher is making his way to the middle with Duminy at the end of the tea break, but it will be interesting to see whether South Africa declare early to give their bowlers another quick run.

08:05 GMT: Amla has had enough, so he retires on 72 from 122 balls to allow JP Duminy a chance to find some form out in the middle. It was an impressive innings from Amla, who didn't offer any chances and played some trademark drives through the offside. South Africa are on 236, and I can tell you that Duminy has just been dropped at short-leg off the bowling of Chawla.

08:00 GMT: Mithun and Vinay Kumar are bowling in tandem now, and both are getting the ball to reverse. Amla has driven one through the covers with a well-timed shot when Mithun overstepped, but De Villiers is taking time to settle and just inside-edged down to the fine-leg boundary off the back foot as Vinay got one to dart into him. The bowler then dropped short to Amla, who hammered his pull shot in front of square and gave the fielder in the deep no chance at all.

Drinks: We're halfway through the day's play, and South Africa are sitting pretty on 212 for two from 56 overs. I was just about to say there's little point in Kallis and Amla continuing but Kallis has just retired on 63 not out. He's been running down the track every so often, suggesting he was growing bored of the task. Amla (58 not out) bats on and is joined by AB de Villiers, who could do with a good knock after a very ordinary series against England.

Pacemen return: Just in answer to Gakgupta's query at the bottom of the page, I'd have to say that Mithun has impressed me most. Good use of the bouncer, which troubled Smith yesterday, and as I type he beats the outside edge of Amla's bat. He's probably a bit quicker than Yadav as well. Mithun and Manpreet Gony have been employed since the last entry, during which time Kallis has flayed a couple brilliantly through point for four and Amla has tucked a boundary to deep backward square leg. South Africa have gone past 200 now and both batsmen have fifty to their name, but there's no sign of either retiring just yet.

07:10 GMT: There's been some confident batting since lunch, with both Amla and Kallis hitting some glorious drives through the covers off Ashwin and Piyush Chawla. Kallis has been brutal with anything short, and just hit Chawla for six over midwicket in the last over. Kallis is starting to look like he's eager to get to the retiring score - probably fifty, which he's just nine runs away from. Meanwhile Amla has been technically perfect in moving to 45 and the score has shifted to 176 for two after 48 overs. Just the one scare of late, when Kallis was struck on the front foot by a straighter one from Chawla, whose appeal for lbw was turned down.

Practice, practice, practice: The South African bowlers enjoyed an outing on the practice pitches on the outfield during the break, with Corrie van Zyl spending the full half-hour with the spinners and Ryan McLaren labouring under the tutelage of Vinnie Barnes. Van Zyl clearly had some advice for Paul Harris, who had plenty of nodding to do as he listened. The Proteas will probably want to get out in the field again before the day is out to give Harris one last chance to develop some much-needed confidence. The bell has now rung - a quaint signal that the second session shall begin.

Lunchtime scores: Prince was out for 42 from 112 balls, and his replacement Kallis is now 4 not out but was slightly lucky when he flicked Ashwin away very fine and just eluded leg slip, who was slightly squarer. Meanwhile Amla has moved confidently to 26 not out and South Africa are on 120 for two from 39 overs.

Lunch: Bad news for South Africa, who lost Prince lbw to Ashwin in the second last over before lunch. He got a good stride in and must have been hit just in line with off stump, but the umpire had no hesitation in giving him out. It's a bit of a blow for Prince, who struggled with Graeme Swann during the England series on the few occasions he managed to get through the new ball. Full score update in one moment...

Spin test: There's no doubt South Africa would have prefered a traditional Indian wicket for this match, because while they're now getting their first taste of spin with the introduction of R Ashwin there isn't a huge amount of turn. Nonetheless Amla looks less than comfortable in Ashwin's first over. Just over 10 minutes to the lunch break, when I'll give you a full score update.

Tale of two batsmen: Prince (36 not out) has looked highly unconvincing this morning but is doing his best to scrap his way back into form. Every drive, be it off the front or back foot, has seemed to find a fielder. Meanwhile at the other end Amla (14 not out) is in fine form, and a couple of overs ago he drove local boy Umesh Yadav crisply through the covers for a couple of boundaries. Yadav got a cheer from the sparse crowd as he came on for his first over and is apparently one to watch for the future. He's got a bit of pace to him but crucially has a farly simple action which allows a fair degree of consistency. South Africa on 97 for one.

Drinks: Mithun has bowled a great spell from the end nearest to me. Having got rid of Smith he's been bowling very straight with a hint of swing into Amla, who is often slow to get forward in defence early in his innings. Mithun doesn't quite have the pace to get one through the gate on this occasion but he's certainly targeting the right area of Amla's game. Meanwhile Manpreet Gony has come on from the other end, and although he's been a bit wayward with Prince clipping a low full toss through midwicket for four, he's also caused the left-hander a few problems with his awkward bounce. Prince perhaps a little too bottom-handish this morning. Prince is on 27 and Amla on three, while the score has moved to 78 for one after 25 overs.

State of play: So, we're a little over half an hour into the day's play, and Graeme Smith has just been caught behind off the bowling of Mithun Bhimanyu, who got him to drive at a wide delivery coming across the left-hander. Smith is out for 45 but probably would have retired after reaching fifty anyway as there are other batsmen a little more desperate for time in the middle. Meanwhile Ashwell Prince has crawled to 17 not out, the score is 60 for one and Hashim Amla has replaced his captain out in the middle.

Morning. The old VCA ground looks like something out of the 1940s, although history records that the first match was played here in October 1969. While the architecture reflects that era, the unprotected stands around the top of the stadium look so weathered that it's clear there was never any refurbishment after the original construction. Hence the 1940s feel. As long ago as 1995 a wall in the East Stand collapsed during a one-day international involving India and New Zealand and killed nine people. Given that, there wasn't much choice but to build a new stadium in Nagpur, though it would have been nice if it could have actually been in Nagpur and not 20 kilometres away.