South Africa send England in to bat

Nick Compton and James Taylor, both seeking to re-establish themselves at Test level, hit half-centuries and dug England out of trouble on a rain-hit first day of the first Test against South Africa at Kingsmead on Saturday.

England almost claimed the prize wicket of De Villiers before tea when he edged a delivery from Finn to gully but television replays could not prove that the ball carried to Ben Stokes. That halted an England fightback that threatened to take the tourists to a 400-plus score.

The South African bowlers probably should have pitched the ball a little fuller on what was a sluggish first day pitch to be more unsafe, and I think they will learn from that. Morkel removed those three in the space of two overs.

Elgar reached the close unbeaten on 67, but he would have departed for 58 had Stokes and England gone upstairs after on-field umpire Aleem Dar failed to raise his finger in the 43rd over of the hosts’ innings.

Kyle Abbott ended Bairstow’s stay for 41 before England nudged past the 300-mark courtesy of a 36-run last-wicket stand between Broad and Finn.

Still, after being 12-2 early on the first day and severely under pressure, England’s first total of the four-test series was decent.

Opting to bat first, Nick Compton scored highest runs for his side, smashing crucial 85 runs before being dismissed by Morkel, Sport24 reported. The Durban-born Compton showed impressive patience to build his innings but fell after a rush of blood and a loose pull shot.

With Anderson ruled out due to a calf strain, Broad led the England attack with relish, taking a wicket with his second ball and adding the valuable scalps of home captain Hashim Amla and talisman AB de Villiers. In the seventh over, Broad got a delivery to rise from a good length and Amla only managed a feather an edge through to the keeper.

And in Steyn’s resumed over after the break, during which lunch was taken, Hales fuelled the detractors who feel he is ill-suited to opening in Test cricket with a loose shot outside his off stump that nicked the ball to keeper AB de Villiers.

Joe Root and Compton went to work on bringing England back into the contest, and did a job up to a point, before Root got out.

De Villiers, on 26no at the interval, may now hold the key to the match. I like the way he goes about his cricket and the manner he plays.

On a wicket that looks devoid of the usual pace associated with Durban, the ball drifted away from the England skipper as Steyn bowled with a scrambled seam.