Test left hanging in balance
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 first-wicket 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 warm-ups, 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.
Root and Pope, who reached 25no and 22no respectively, were tested hard by some fierce deliveries but held on for stumps.