England captain Alastair Cook made his first half-century of the series to keep his team in contention on the second day of the fourth and final Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park on Saturday. England were 138 for two at the close of play after Quinton de Kock's maiden Test century took South Africa to a first innings total of 475.
Cook, who had scored only 103 runs in six innings in the first three Tests, batted solidly to finish unbeaten on 67. England lost Alex Hales early, when he sliced a drive against Kagiso Rabada to Dane Piedt at point after making 15. Nick Compton helped Cook add 56 for the second wicket before he fell victim to a ball from Rabada which shot through low and trapped him leg before wicket for 19.
Joe Root joined Cook and the pair took England through to the close in an unbeaten partnership of 60. Root was on 31 not out. The left-handed De Kock made 129 not out off 128 balls as he and the South African tailenders frustrated the England bowlers on a hot, humid day. Kyle Abbott helped De Kock add 50 for the eighth wicket and Piedt shared a ninth wicket stand of 82 with the South African wicketkeeper.
De Kock was the third centurion in the innings and joined debutant Stephen Cook in making his first Test hundred. England once again paid the price for dropped catches. After both Cook and Hashim Amla were dropped on the way to centuries on the first day, De Kock was put down by Ben Stokes at gully off James Anderson when he was on 28, having added only three runs to his overnight score.
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Scoreboard
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South Africa, first innings (overnight 329-5)
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S. Cook b Woakes 115
D. Elgar c Taylor b Ali 20
H. Amla b Stokes 109
A. de Villiers c Root b Broad 0
J. Duminy lbw b Ali 16
T. Bavuma c Bairstow b Broad 35
Q. de Kock not out 129
K. Rabada lbw b Anderson 0
K. Abbott lbw b Stokes 16
D. Piedt c Bairstow b Stokes 19
M. Morkel lbw b Stokes 0
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Extras: (lb12, w4) 16
Total: (132 overs) 475
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Fall of wickets: 1-35 (Elgar), 2-237 (Amla), 3-238 (De Villiers), 4-271 (Cook), 5-273 (Duminy), 6-335 (Bavuma), 7-336 (Rabada), 8-386 (Abbott), 9-468 (Piedt)
Bowling: Anderson 30-6-91-1 (1w), Broad 28-4-91-2 (2w), Ali 25-5-104-2, Woakes 22-3-91-1 (1w), Stokes 27-3-86-4.
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England, first innings
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A. Cook not out 67
A. Hales c Piedt b Rabada 15
N. Compton lbw b Rabada 19
J. Root not out 31
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Extras: (b1, lb4, w1) 6
Total: (2 wkts, 46 overs) 138
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Fall of wickets: 1-22 (Hales), 2-78 (Compton)
Bowling: Abbott 11-5-17-0, Rabada 12-2-55-2 (1w), Piedt 10-1-23-0, Morkel 11-2-29-0, Elgar 2-0-9-0
To bat: J. Taylor, B. Stokes, J. Bairstow, M. Ali, C. Woakes, S. Broad, J. Anderson.
Match situation: England trail by 337 runs with eight wickets remaining in the first innings
Toss: South Africa
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI), Chris Gaffaney (NZL)
TV umpire: Rod Tucker (AUS).
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