Proteas bowling coach Charl Langeveldt summed up the first day of the third Test against England at St George’s Park, saying it was difficult for his bowlers.
He couldn’t have been more accurate after England finished the day on 204/4, with Ben Stokes (38*) and Ollie Pope (39*) at the crease.
Langeveldt says: “It was hard in terms of bowling, it drained a lot out of you. It’s very humid this time of the year, but I think we stuck to our plans and came up with some different plans.”
The Proteas started the day with a different plan, giving the new ball to debutant Dane Paterson and veteran Vernon Philander.
On a pitch that didn’t provide the seamers with a lot of assistance, that plan failed as England openers Zak Crawley (44) and Dom Sibley (36) put on 70 runs for the first wicket, before Kagiso Rabada (2/41) had the latter caught at leg gully by Dean Elgar.
Some 18 overs later, South Africa packed their leg-side field and Anrich Nortje (1/52) removed Crawley in similar fashion.
Joe Root (25) and namesake Deny (27) then added some valuable runs before the former was trapped leg before by Keshav Maharaj and the latter clean bowled by Rabada.
While the wickets dried up, South Africa managed stop the runs from flowing, with Maharaj bowling 32 overs for just 55 runs.
Play resumes at 10am today.