South Africa vs England: Tea day 2 – Proteas quicks hit back

The Proteas quicks made inroads into the England batting order with four wickets falling between lunch and tea on day two of the first Test at Supersport Park.

Joe Root and Joe Denly came out after lunch and looked to get England on top, but Vernon Philander had other ideas.

Proteas attack steps up

With Root moving around the crease to put of the metronomic seamer, Philander made some adjustments and found the edge of the England skipper’s bat. Philander’s second wicket of the day reduced England to 70 for 3 just after the break.

Denly looked the most assured of the England batsmen coping well with the variations in pace of the Proteas attack and when Ben Stokes joined him the pair looked to be edging the tourists ahead in the game.

Stokes hit Proteas spinner, Keshav Maharaj, out of the attack and he and Denly put on the first fifty partnership of the England innings.

With the frontline quicks tiring it fell to Anrich Nortje and Dwaine Pretorius to find a way through Denly and Stokes. Pretorius would snap up the big wicket of Denly (50) with a ball that just did enough to beat the England number three and take the inside edge of his bat. A nick so faint the onfield umpires called it not out but Pretorius was sure he had his first Test wicket, and DRS would concur.

Nortje produced a jaffer to castle Jonny Bairstow (1) early in his innings and flip the session on its head. That wicket proved to be the spark for Nortje to produce his best form with the ball.

Stokes was beaten by Nortje’s pace and got a tickle through to Quinton de Kock who bagged his fifth catch of the innings and suddenly from 142 for 3 England were 150 for 6.

All four Proteas seamers have made an impact on day two with Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada setting the standard with a fast bowling masterclass in the morning session that didn’t yield just reward. Nortje and Pretorius then came to the party after lunch, ensuring England are under pressure heading into the final session of the day.

After Joe Root’s decision to bat first at the toss yesterday England will be desperate to establish a lead but still trailed by 127 at the tea break having moved to 157 for 6 through the second session of day two.

Scorecard