JOHANNESBURG // Steven Finn and Ben Stokes claimed two wickets apiece as England reduced South Africa to 267 for seven at the close of the first day of the third Test at the Wanderers on Thursday.
England, 1-0 up in the four-Test series, had the hosts in trouble before being held up by a valuable unbeaten eighth-wicket stand of 42 between Chris Morris (26) and Kagiso Rabada (20).
New South Africa captain AB de Villiers won the toss and chose to bat despite overcast conditions that offered hope for England’s seam attack.
His decision appeared to be vindicated as the hosts saw off the early threat and reached 73 for one at lunch, losing opener Stiaan van Zyl (21) when he top edged Stokes to give wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow one of four catches.
But England struck twice in quick succession in the second session to dismiss Hashim Amla and Dean Elgar as they approached half centuries to put a brake on the home side.
Amla fell to a vicious in-swinging delivery from Finn, caught behind for 40 not long after Elgar (46) got a thin edge to Bairstow off the spin of Moeen Ali.
An attacking innings from De Villiers ended shortly after tea as he went for 36 off 40 balls, followed by Faf du Plessis who holed out to deep square leg off Finn with a rash shot.
De Villiers, replacing Amla as captain and promising a more aggressive approach, gloved a ball from Stokes down the leg side to be caught behind just when he looked capable of producing another big score on a ground where he has had past success.
Wicketkeeper Dane Vilas, who made a last-minute dash from the coastal city of Port Elizabeth to play after being called up as a replacement for the injured Quinton de Kock, struck some lusty boundaries before pulling the ball to deep backward square. Moeen caught the high ball to give Stuart Broad his first wicket of the day as Vilas perished for 26.
The 30-year-old keeper was given a police escort to speed his journey to the ground after De Kock sustained a freak injury to his right knee on Wednesday.
“Quinton slipped and sprained his right knee at home late yesterday afternoon,” South Africa manager Mohammed Moosajee explained on Thursday.
England bowling coach Ottis Gibson was pleased with the way the tourists changed their bowling to reduce South Africa to 267 for seven.
“When you lose a toss and you have the opposition seven down you’ve done all right,” Gibson said.
“We struggled early on to find the right length I think, and then after that I thought Finny was outstanding the way he bowled and we had to keep going.
“They played quite well, they left well in the first 20 minutes, half an hour. Perhaps we didn’t find the right lengths but as the day went on we got better and better.”
Gibson revealed that a more aggressive strategy had paid dividends, as England struck four times in the final session before being frustrated by an unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 42 between Chris Morris and Kagiso Rabada.
“All the time we’re assessing the lengths, trying to find what is the right length to bowl on every given pitch we play on,” he added.
“I didn’t think that we found that length in the first half an hour - we spoke about it, we said that we need to risk a drive.
“The guys worked really hard and seven down is a plus for us on that wicket - it looks a really good pitch.”
Finn returned from a two-year Test absence during last summer’s Ashes, and after missing the tour of the United Arab Emirates against Pakistan through injury at the end of 2015, has now overtaken Dane Piedt as the leading wicket taker in this series.
“He’s been outstanding since he came back into the team,” Gibson said.
“He’s come back in and shown what he can do and gone from strength to strength.”
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