UPDATE: The second day's play has been called off by the umpires. The third day's play will start half-an-hour before the slated time.
Hashim Amla's push for a century in a third consecutive Test against Australia was halted by rain which washed out the first two sessions on day two of the series-opening match.
Amla was unbeaten on 90 and Jacques Kallis remained on 84, with South Africa unable to add to its overnight total of 255 for two because no play was possible before tea today.
Light rain continued throughout the day and the covers did not come off the wicket at any stage before 3 pm Local time.
South Africa batsman JP Duminy was ruled out of the series overnight after rupturing his left Achilles tendon in a freak training accident after the opening day.
South Africa is sending for a replacement for the remainder of the three-Test series.
Earlier, Hashim Amla showed he wouldn`t be intimidated by Australia`s mind games, scoring an unbeaten 90 to guide South Africa to 255-2 at stumps on Thursday after a series-opening day dominated by the batsmen.
Amla surpassed 5,000 career runs and shared partnerships of 136 with Jacques Kaliis (84 not out) for the third wicket and 90 for the second wicket with opener Alviro Petersen (64).
A leaked Australia team dossier which appeared in local media in the lead-up to the first Test said Amla was susceptible to "psychological warfare."
There was no indication of any such weakness today as he moved within ten runs of posting a century for a third successive Test against Australia.
He did give some chances and half chances, including a slashing edge between wicketkeeper and first slip off Nathan Lyon when he was on 62, but remained composed.
The 63-Test veteran went in at the dismissal of skipper Graeme Smith (10) with the total at 29. He survived an appeal for lbw before he`d scored and a caught-and-bowled chance to Peter Siddle on 74. He had faced 205 balls and stroked six boundaries and a six when play was halted eight overs early due to bad light.
For all the speculation of aggressive pace dominating in conditions aiding swing and seam, the Australian attack toiled without much success on a green-tinged Gabba wicket.
Siddle was frustrated after missing opportunities to break up the Amla-Kallis partnership, which has produced some outstanding 100-plus stands in Test cricket.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, November 10, 2012, 09:05