Vernon Philander, who will retire from international cricket after the ongoing series, was the chief destroyer as he returned figures of 4 for 16.
England's Stuart Broad (L) celebrates after the dismissal of South Africa's Zubayr Hamza during the second day of the first Test cricket match between South Africa and England at The SuperSport Park stadium at Centurion near Pretoria on December 27, 2019. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
After a superb bowling effort, South Africa held their nerves in the last session to lead England by 175 runs at stumps on Day 2 of the first Test of the four-match series.
On Friday at the SuperSport Park in Centurion, a total of 15 wickets fell, where 10 wickets were of the visitors. England lost four wickets in the second and third session each with their last seven wickets coming for just 39 runs.
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Vernon Philander, who will retire from international cricket after the ongoing series, was the chief destroyer as he returned figures of 4 for 16. Meanwhile, Kagiso Rabada ended with 3 for 68.
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The Proteas started with a lead of 103 in their second innings. Opener Aiden Markram’s lean run continued, falling for just two runs in the first over to James Anderson. Stuart Broad then dismissed Zubayr Hamza. Joffra Archer subsequently bowled his first over of the day and dismissed Dean Elgar off his second ball thanks to a flying catch from wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.
Rassie Van Der Dussen, who is playing his maiden Test match, then stuck on with captain Faf du Plessis to take England past the 50 run mark. Du Plessis got a lifeline when Ben Stokes grassed a catch off him at slips but soon he got a pull shot off Archer wrong and was caught at square leg by Sam Curran.
The fight back from the England bowlers kept the Three Lions in the game after the batsmen were blown away with the new ball.
Joe Denly’s gritty 50 was the highest individual score from the England side, while Ben Stokes’ 35 was the second-best.
Brief Scores: South Africa 284 & 72/4 (Dean Elgar 22, Faf du Plessis 20; Jofra Archer 2/37) vs England 181 (Joe Denly 50, Ben Stokes 35; Vernon Philander 4/16)
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