Skipper Faf du Pessis (14*) and Rassie van der Dussen (4*) were batting at the crease when the umpires called for Lunch.
James Anderson. (Photo: Twitter/@englandcricket)
Collective effort from England pacers reduced South Africa to 79 for 3 before lunch on Day 1 of the first Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
Skipper Faf du Pessis (14*) and Rassie van der Dussen (4*) were batting at the crease when the umpires called for Lunch.
On Thursday, England skipper Joe Root won the toss and elected to bowl first against South Africa.
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England wreaked havoc as James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Sam Curran claimed the wickets of Dean Elgar (0), Zubayr Hazma (39) and Aiden Markram (20), respectively.
Van der Dussen and Dwaine Pretorius have made their Test debut. Meanwhile, England pace spearhead James Anderson was handed a special cap by country’s former skipper Naseer Hussain as the bowler plays his 150th Test match. He becomes only the second English player after Alastair Cook to reach the milestone. The pacer has so far claimed 576 wickets in 150* Test matches.
Notably, England all-rounder Ben Stokes, who did not practice the last couple of days due to his father’s critical condition, is in the final XI.
Here are the Playing XIs of both the teams:
South Africa: Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis (captain), Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Dwaine Pretorius, Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje
England: Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Joe Denly, Joe Root (captain), Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
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