Test hangs in balance
Going: Soft-good to soft in places on hurdle course
Jackpot meeting ................... Bryony Frost 133
..... ...................................................................................... J Quinlan 132
......... Jamie Moore 118 ................... Page Fuller (3) 134
................. T Cannon 133
6-4fav Tracked leaders, effort 2 out, soon outpaced, 3rd of 8, 17l behind Millers Bank at Market Rasen 2m 1f nh nov hdl (4) gs in Dec. 12-1 Raced keenly, led, hit 3 out, headed and weakened on long run before 2 out, 6th of 10, 33l behind Miranda at Kempton 2m (3) sft in Dec. 12-1 Held up in mid-division, bumped 1st, headway 3 out, led 2 out, clear flat, stayed on, won at Wincanton 1m 7f hcp hdl 0-105 (4) sft beating Vanderbilt by 2 1/2l, 16 ran.
20-1 Raced wide in mid-division, weakened before 3 out, , pulled up soon after, in a race won by Mill Green at Sandown 2m hcp hdl 0-145 (2) sft, 11 ran. 20-1 Towards rear, driven along before 2 out, soon weakened, 6th of 9, 27l behind Dostal Phil at Fontwell 2m 2f hcp hdl 0-130 (3) sft in Dec.
ZAK Crawley and Dom Sibley became the first England openers to post a century stand in over three years but South Africa fought back to leave the fourth Test in the balance on day one in Johannesburg.
The entire morning session at the Wanderers was wiped out by weather but when play was finally able to get going three hours and 20 minutes later, Crawley (66) and Sibley (44) set to work on a fine firstwicket partnership worth 107.
The last time England’s top two put on three figures was back in 2016, when Sir Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings added 103 in Chennai, and while that should have been the cornerstone of a sizeable total, South Africa had other ideas.
They took four wickets for 50 in a spell of challenging pace bowling, leaving Joe Root and Ollie Pope to prevent further damage by the time bad light brought an early finish at 192 for four.
England’s hopes of converting their 2-1 lead into a series win suffered an early setback during the warmups, with Jofra Archer’s mooted return ending in disappointment.
After being ruled out of the last two matches he had dialled up his intensity in the nets over the previous 48 hours, turning in two hostile spells that made a compelling case for selection.
Things took a turn for the worse shortly before the toss, as Archer aborted his pre-match preparations after feeling soreness in his joint.
Everything else broke in England’s favour before the tea break, which saw them close on exactly 100 without loss. Root had chosen to bat first after calling correctly to extend Faf Du Plessis’ losing streak to seven in a row.
In Kagiso Rabada’s absence it fell to Vernon Philander, making his final appearance before retirement, to set the tone but he was bested early as a pair of glorious drives disappeared through mid-off and cover off Crawley’s bat.
Root and Pope, who reached 25no and 22no respectively, were tested fiercely but held on for stumps.