11:30 GMT: That's it for the day, as South Africa close on 44 without loss in reply to the Indian Board President's XI's 318 all out, with Smith on 30 and Prince on 13. It was a largely satisfying day for the tourists having bowled the opposition out, but the concern remains over the spin department after they managed just one wicket. Botha grabbed it while Harris went wicketless and cut a frustrated figure, with the only consolation being that this is a fairly green pitch with little turn. The Proteas will probably look to declare in time to give Harris another outing tomorrow evening as he desperately seeks some confidence ahead of the first Test. The effort of the day, though, came from Abhishek Nayar who hit a fine century. Quotes from the end-of-day press conference will follow, so check the front page a bit later for those, and of course I'll be blogging away again tomorrow. Have yourselves a pleasant day/afternoon/evening.

11:20 GMT: Smith sends a couple of pull shots to the midwicket boundary as Mithun begins to tire and drops short. Both he and Prince had a glorious straight drive each just before those, so the South African openers are starting to open up a touch. 31 for none after the first 10 overs, and we have 10 minutes remaining as far as I'm aware.

11:10 GMT: Eight overs gone, and South Africa have progressed slowly to 15 without loss. Smith has 11 of those and Prince just three, with the latter content to leave plenty outside off stump. Vinay Kumar and Mithun Bhimanyu have opened the bowling for the President's XI, but the only noteworthy happenings have been Mithun beating Smith's bat once and hitting him on the shoulder another time as Smith misjudged the pace of a bouncer off the pitch.

10:50 GMT: Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince have opened the innings for South Africa, which suggests that Prince has told Corrie van Zyl that he wants to remain at the top of the order for the Tests.

10:25 GMT: Nayar enjoyed his celebration, but is caught in the gully off the bowling of Morkel two balls later as the President's XI innings comes to an end on 318. That was an exellent innings from Nayar, who was composed throughout. Morkel and Parnell finish with three wickets apiece, but the concern for South Africa will be Harris' lack of success - by the end of each spell he was visibly frustrated and looks in no state to take on India come Saturday.

10:20 GMT: Success for Jacques Kallis as the extra bounce does for R Ashwin (8), who edges through to Boucher somewhat tamely. That makes the score 315 for 9 and Morkel replaces Parnell to bowl at Nayar on 99. A clip to midwicket for a risky single takes him to his hundred (139 balls, 16 boundaries), although there was a moment of tension as Alviro Petersen shied at the stumps and just missed.

10:10 GMT: Parnell has a third wicket to his name and has surely cemented his place in the side for the first Test, which starts on Saturday. After a series of straight deliveries he tempted Chawla with a wide one, and the batsman threw his willow at it only to get an edge through to Boucher. There is a mandatory declaration after 90 overs, but South Africa might get to bat a few overs this evening having now taken their eighth wicket.

10:00 GMT: "Hi Mr. Tristan," writes Bimlesh from Delhi. "Thanks a ton for your regular updates on today's practice match. Much appreciated as there are no other sites where we can follow the match. Just a simple request though, can you please along with your regular update, mention the total score of the team at that point and the score of the two batsmen on the crease. I hope that's not asking for too much. Once again many thanks for your updates and hopefully we are in for a cracker of a series between the no 1 and 2 sides in the world at the moment." Someone else wrote in asking for the scores as well - I'll try and keep you updated on the score a bit better, although the only source of information is the scorers themselves. The players are taking drinks, and the score has moved on to 305 for 7 after 71 overs.

09:55 GMT: A brilliant piece of fielding from Botha has broken a superb partnership between Nayar and Dhawan, with the latter being run out. Nayar drove to Botha at mid-off and set off for the run, and Botha chose the right end and knocked the middle stump out. Must have been clse, but the umpire had no hesitation in raising the finger - no third umpire here of course. Meanwhile Graeme Smith is having a trundle from the other end, and just got whacked back over his head for six by the new batsman Piyush Chawla. That partnership was worth 181, and that seventh wicket fell with the score on 295 for 7.

09:45 GMT: Parnell has enjoyed a good spell since he was brought back, and he's getting th odd one to reverse - mostly away from the left-handers. He's just got one to leap a bit and Nayar catch the outside edge, but it flew high and darted through the gap between Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis at slip. Parnell is essentially in a shoot-out for a place in the Test side with Lonwabo Tsotsobe I would think, so he's doing his claims no harm here.

09:15 GMT: This is a young President's XI side but Nayar and Dhawan are showing the sort of talent that we can expect in years to come. Although there's a lack of intensity about the Proteas both batsmen have looked perfectly comfortable and the highlight in the 15 minutes since tea has been Dhawan's thumping sweep shot for four off the bowling of Botha. And as I write he skips down the track to clip Duminy through midwicket for four more.

08:45 GMT: Harris was removed for the final over of the session to allow JP Duminy a quick bowl, and he threatened with a couple of deliveries. Tea is taken and it's been a tough hour and a half for South Africa after those two quick wickets. However credit must go to Nayar (59 not out) and Dhawan (45 not out) because they've batted superbly, leaving well outside off stump and putting the bad balls away. The score has moved on to 231 for 6 from 56 overs.

08:35 GMT: Back-to-back boundaries for Dhawan as a late cut is followed by a booming drive. Harris is taking strain, but has been kept on by Smith (back on the field after his net with Wessels) in the hope that the left-armer will work through his problems. It's a strange sort of pitch: plenty of green grass in the centre but sparser at both ends. That's allowed the seamers to get the odd one to pop, and the spinners to get the odd one to turn.

08:10 GMT: South Africa are struggling a bit here as Dhawan and Abhishek Nayar showcase their batting skills. The duo have put on a fifty partnership and taken the President's XI to 200 for 6 after 49 overs. Ryan McLaren has had a torrid time since his introduction, being driven and cut through the offside on a regular basis. Tough to see him being selected for the first Test because his bowling is unlikely to add anything to the attack on these sluggish wickets. Still no joy for Harris, who has had to employ a heavy leg-side field for protection after a couple of boundaries.

07:45 GMT: Time for a drink on what's turning out to be a warm day here. Wayne Parnell had a big shout for lbw just now and although it struck the batsman outsde the line of off sump, the encouraging thing was that there was a hint of reverse involved. That's something the Proteas must master in this series, and is something they failed to achieve against England. Meanwhile Botha has got a couple to turn out of the rough but hasn't had any further success, and will now be replaced by Harris. Crucial spell for him, because Corrie van Zyl still considers Harris to be South Africa's best spin bowler but he needs to regan his confidence. He got thrashed by Pandey before lunch, so a wicket now is crucial.

07:10 GMT: A bit of a confidence booster for the spin department, as John Botha takes a wicket with his first ball of the match. Pujara played all around one and had his off stump knocked back, and Botha had a loud lbw appeal turned down later in the over. The offspinner has since been economical but not overly threatening, though as I type that he has a strong lbw appeal turned down against the left-handed Shikhar Dhawan. Not a huge amount of turn on offer at this stage.

06:45 GMT: The ringing of an old bell summoned the players back onto the field for the second session, and Morne Morkel has struck in the first over after lunch. Pandey was trappd halfway between a pull and a backwar defenive shot and a little top edge looped just over the bowler's head where Paul Harris took a simple catch trotting in from mid-off. Meanwhile Graeme Smith has opted out of this session and headed off to the nets with Kepler Wessels.

06:30 GMT: So that little excursion meant that a lovely auto driver by the name of Fahim is almost Rs400 richer, but it also meant I missed almost the entire opening session. Nonetheless, I can tell you that South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl, and it was agreed that both sides could use their full squads with only eleven men allowed to bat. South Africa have 15, while the President's XI have 14. The Proteas made good progress, reducing their opposition to 113 for 4 after 28 overs. Wayne Parnell grabbed two of the wickets - those of Ajinkya Rahane (8) and Rohit Sharma (12) - while Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel accounted for Abhinau Mukund (8) and Parthiv Patel (8) respectively. However Manish Pandey (43 not out) and Cheteshwar Pujara (16 not out) have mounted a fightback with a fifty-run partnership, with the former taking a particular liking to Paul Harris. In fact since I arrived, Harris has been hit for no fewer than five boundaries through the legside, two of them sixes by Pandey. Lunch is currently being taken.

06:15 GMT: Hello. It's great to be here. And I don't just mean it's great to be back in India (that's a given) - I genuinely mean it's great to be here at the old VCA Stadium in Nagpur. Having assumed that this tour match would be at the new stadium 20 kilometres out of town, I've just made a 40km round trip in an autorickshaw (top speed 60km/h) that turned out to be completely pointless. Hopefully that's my act of idiocy out of the way for the rest of the tour. No guarantees.