England stand tall on Broad shoulders but Elgar defiant

Fast-bowler claims 3-16 to leave South Africa 137-4, still trailing by 166

DURBAN: Stuart Broad bowled two fiery spells and took three wickets to give England a slight advantage at the end of day two of the first Test against South Africa at Kingsmead on Sunday.

South Africa were 137-4 at the close, still 166 runs behind England’s 303.

Broad dismissed opener Stiaan van Zyl as well as South Africa’s two key batsmen, captain Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers, to finish the day with 3-16 from 10 overs.



Opening batsman Dean Elgar withstood the Broad barrage and was unbeaten on 67, although he could have been dismissed on 58 if England had reviewed after an appeal for leg-before-wicket by Ben Stokes was turned down.

Off-spinner Moeen Ali took the fourth wicket when he bowled Faf du Plessis.

Earlier in the day, fast-bowlers Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn claimed four wickets each as England lost six wickets in the morning session.

Morkel took all of his wickets on Sunday, including a burst of three wickets for no runs off six balls, and finished with 4-76, while Steyn took 4-70.

Morkel’s victims included top scorer Nick Compton, who made a painstaking 85.

Fresh from making a hard-hitting 32 not out, Broad struck with the second ball of the South African innings by castling van Zyl.

Amla survived two caught behind appeals off Broad and was dropped by Jonny Bairstow off Chris Woakes before edging to Bairstow on seven.

De Villiers went on to make an accomplished 49 before Broad returned to the attack and had him caught behind, pushing at a ball which left him off the pitch to provide a second catch for Bairstow. 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.