Six days into the series and England, to dredge up the old phrases of Duncan Fletcher, have “come to the party”. If their batsmen had been profligate on the first day, their bowlers “stepped up to the plate” magnificently on the second to ensure that England retain realistic hopes of levelling the series here.
By the close of a day of sublime sunshine South Africa had stumbled to 215 for eight, 54 runs behind England’s total, which represented quite a descent from 157 for three.
Early in the final session Dean Elgar, who had batted masterfully for over four hours, and the less fluent but equally resolute Rassie van der Dussen, were tormenting Joe Root’s side. The fielding and bowling had remained sharp and strong throughout but the wickets had dried up.
Yet in that final session England seized their chance, snatching five wickets. The bowlers, spearheaded by Stuart Broad at the start of the innings and Jimmy Anderson towards the end, were relentlessly accurate and when the edges came the busy Ben Stokes at second slip usually held them.
Root handled his attack adroitly. By a substantial margin this was England’s best day of the tour, when they sowed as many doubts about the South Africa batting lineup, as there have been about their own. On Friday night, 269 seemed an inadequate total; 24 hours later we are not so sure.
The pitch, which is a beauty for Test cricket since it offers something to both disciplines, has yielded nine wickets per day.
South Africa’s mopping-up operation did not last long in the morning; seven runs were added before Anderson edged to first slip off Kagiso Rabada, which left Ollie Pope stranded on 61 not out, his best Test innings, though not his highest. That last-wicket partnership of 35 felt handy, especially when South Africa lost three wickets within 14 overs.
Broad was soon on target. Pieter Malan opened his Test account with a neat punch to the boundary off the back foot but when Broad extracted extra bounce just outside the off stump Malan sparred and Root held the catch above his head at first slip. Zubayr Hamza fell in a similar manner, though this time Stokes was his assistant.
Broad was now in the groove. After a brief spell Anderson was switched to the Wynberg End, the favoured one for pace bowlers in this match partly because of the suggestion of a devious spot around off-stump. He also found his rhythm and away he probed at Faf du Plessis, allowing no liberties. Soon Anderson found the edge of the bat and Stokes at second slip obliged once more.
It was 40 for three and suddenly 269 did not seem such a bad score. South Africa limped to lunch, by which time Dom Bess had already bowled four overs.
His early introduction came about partly because Sam Curran in his first spell was neither threatening nor miserly. Moreover, Root wanted to save his main strike bowlers for the Wynberg End so Bess would be remarkably busy throughout the day. Fortunately for his captain – and Bess given he had the indignity of a first-baller on his Test return – he relished the responsibility. He would end up bowling 27 overs.
Bess is very raw; he has not played a competitive match since September, when the ball was turning rather more sharply than here. In fact he has not bowled much at all on non-turning pitches in first-class cricket. And yet he barely bowled a bad ball on Saturday. His figures are unspectacular but this was an incredibly mature and spirited effort. Later in the day England would be grateful for his parsimony. Matt Parkinson, England’s original choice as second spinner, would have struggled to match this performance, despite the conclusions of the selectors back in September.
England were unable to take a wicket throughout an exasperating afternoon. The most agonising moment came when Van der Dussen was on 16. Broad produced another snorter that brushed the glove; the batsman set off for the pavilion until it transpired that the bowler had overstepped. Clearly Broad was culpable. Why could he not be more like Ian Botham or JK Lever, who bowled a couple of no-balls per decade? A fair question often posed by batsmen. It would, however, help if umpires, who are increasingly reluctant to call no-balls lest the cameras prove them wrong, had the good grace to at least alert bowlers when they are close to transgressing.
Van der Dussen had a bit more good fortune throughout a gritty innings. On 38 he edged just short of Stokes at second slip and on 43 a similar shot just carried and Stokes dived to his right. The ball lodged in his right hand until his elbow hit the ground.
All the while Elgar was proceeding serenely; he scarcely missed a ball all day in contrast to his peers. The partnership passed a hundred and a personal landmark was on the horizon for South Africa’s doughty opener. Then Elgar finally made a mistake. On 88 he advanced against Bess but this time sliced his lofted drive and Root, running back at mid-off, held the catch.
Quinton de Kock only flickered before playing an ugly, disdainful swat against Curran, which sent the ball looping to Anderson at mid-off.
Curran, bowling around the wicket, found the outside edge of Van der Dussen’s bat and Stokes was still on call.
With South Africa six wickets down it was a fine time to take the new ball. Another couple of edges and Anderson had removed Dwaine Pretorius and Keshav Maharaj and England departed the field with a rare spring in their step.
