Monday, December 28 : Stuart Broad dismissed Temba Bavuma with the second ball of the day to set the tone for England dominance on the third day of the first Sunfoil Test match at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead on Monday.
In spite of Dean Elgar (118 not out, 246 balls, 8 fours and a six) becoming the sixth South African to carry his bat in a Test match and the second after Gary Kirsten since unity, England took a vital first innings lead of 89 runs and had extended it to 261 with seven wickets still intact by the close.
The Castle Lager Proteas have effectively been batted out of the game on a pitch that already has the wear and tear of a fifth day’s surface and the ball is clearly in England’s court as to how much longer they want to bat and how many overs they want available to attempt to go one up in the series.
Whatever chance the Proteas had of getting back into the match disappeared when first Dale Steyn broke down with an apparent shoulder strain of his bowling arm and then they put down two vital chances behind the stumps off the outstanding Morne Morkel. It was the difference between England being 58/4 at tea with a lead of 147 and going to lay the foundation with successive partnerships of 71 between the two beneficiaries, Nick Compton and Joe Root, and an unbroken 53 between Root and James Taylor.
Compton eventually got out to his third chance for 49 (116 balls, 5 fours) to complete an excellent match while Root (60 not out, 9 fours and a six) looks as though he has England’s first century of the series in his sights.
With Steyn out of the attack the Proteas were effectively left with a three-man attack and in the circumstances Morkel was absolutely superb with figures of 1/19 in 13.3 overs plus three dropped chances.
Dane Piedt picked up the other two wickets to fall (2/65 in 18).
England’s bowling stars were Broad who finished with a superb 4/25 and Moeen Ali (4/69) who will clearly have the major role to play in the fourth innings.