South Africa vs England: Nick Compton and James Taylor dig in to see England through to close

England were heading for disaster. The opening day of the Test series against the No 1 ranked side in the world and it was all going wrong. They were three wickets down under brooding skies and two of the losses were the batsmen who make most of their runs, Alastair Cook and Joe Root.

Dale Steyn, the best fast bowler around for almost a decade, was also brooding, with intent. Someone from somewhere had to repulse the onrushing enemy. Nick Compton and James Taylor, both men who had been discarded by England, both still with plenty of points to make about selectorial incompetence, stood solid and upright in England’s cause.

They took no risks, they were dogged and vigilant. Perhaps they took a perverse delight in being the men who would not let the opposition pass but let ball after ball pass their bats with that aim in mind. It was about as far removed from Twenty20 cricket as a normal imagination allows.

Every run that Compton, in particular, scored was eked from deep inside his soul. Taylor by comparison was carefree. They put on 125 from 274 balls. They were hardly home free but England had averted catastrophe. Too often in the past year, from 49 for 3 with the two run machines gone, there would have been only one way to go.

When it looked as if the pair would see out the day for England and with light, never exactly bright, closing in, Steyn had another over or two left in him. He placed one delivery tantalisingly outside Taylor’s off-stump and was rewarded with a back-foot push which failed to make full contact and ended with the wicketkeeper, AB de Villiers.

Ten balls later and the players left the field for bad light. England were 179 for 4 and if that does not sound anything worth writing home about, the other probable option was much, much worse. Compton was 63 not out from 179 balls and it deserves recording that on the rare occasions he chose to drive or was allowed to drive, he did so handsomely.

Steyn was everything that England feared he would be: quick, accurate, hostile, swinging the ball. He offered neither respite nor scoring opportunity. It was fearsome and it was exactly what the start of this series required.

Here was a top-class operator still working at the peak of his powers (lest anybody doubted him). If the opposition could see him off then they would deserve the riches possibly on offer down the line. In those opening overs ifs came no bigger.

Part of Steyn’s appeal as a fast bowler is the boyish fashion in which he still celebrates a wicket (“I must be honest,” he said the other day, “I’m 32 but I feel like I’m 27 and act like I’m 19”) and he let no-one down with his gleeful, pumping reactions here.

Cook had left eight of the 10 balls that Steyn bowled to him. The 11th might have been slightly closer, it certainly jagged away late and Cook was tempted into jabbing at it. He understood his folly immediately. The ball flew off the edge of his bat to second slip ,where Dean Elgar held the catch as it headed for his midriff.

Steyn had the scalp of one of the two main England men in the third over. He was ecstatic and he was mobbed by his team-mates before he could go through the whole repertoire of elation, or his eyes popped out of their sockets. After 31 balls of the match, whose start had already been delayed, it rained again for long enough for lunch to be taken.

Four balls into an elongated afternoon session, before his fourth over was complete, Steyn had his second wicket. Hales, in his first Test innings, had been batting at the other end from Steyn, facing Kyle Abbott. He had scored two from his first ball – a no ball – and looked as if he was determined to play his own game. That is a mantra of the team: bat the way that earned selection in the first place.

Hales had received one ball from Steyn before the break, and after the resumption ducked under the first, let the second go by and played a firm, almost premeditated forward defensive to the third. To the next Hales essayed a waspish drive, his feet did not move, his bat was away from his body, and the ball ended up in the hands of De Villiers.

It was not only possible to fear the worst for England now, it was necessary. Steyn had two wickets for no runs from his 2.5 overs. In came Root, England’s other main man, and he guided his first ball effortlessly through the slip cordon for four, as if to show it was possible to score runs off Steyn.

The Yorkshireman looked in magisterial touch. The bowlers made it difficult for him but he was not in the mood to be subjugated. He cut Morne Morkel for four and hoisted Abbott for six over wide long-on without a by your leave.

It all still needed considerable fortitude if England were to avoid calamity. South Africa captain Hashim Amla turned to the off-spin of Dane Piedt. His first ball turned, Root was taken by surprise, failed to push forward and was struck on the pad. The lbw appeal was upheld, Root asked for a review but narrowly failed to be reinstated. It hit him in line, just, it was hitting the stumps, just. It was out.

Shortly after, another 22 minutes were lost because of the weather, hardly ideal for either side but more discomfiting for batsmen having to start their innings again. Compton and Taylor had to dig deep now. These were splendid favourable bowling conditions. England needed above all to be cautious. Anything else was for the unfeasibly gifted or the reckless.

In that sense, Compton and Taylor recognised their limitations and their obligations. There was the sense that predictions of a close series may come to fruition.

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HIGHLIGHTS

Shot of the day

Not one of Nick Compton’s myriad leaves but a booming cover drive for four by James Taylor (below) off Dale Steyn soon after he had come in which showed he was a batsman to be reckoned with.

Ball of the day

Steyn, out for most South Africa’s woebegone Indian series, announced his return in style. His 11th ball, fast, moving late, removed the England captain. Game on.

Moment of the day

Compton, in the forties for 41 balls, cut Dean Elgar for four to reach a 145-ball fifty after missing 30 Test matches. England seemed to have found a replacement for Jonathan Trott at last.

Stat of the day

Compton, who in partnership with Taylor led the fightback from 49-3, had plenty to prove to the selectors, having been discarded by England. His unbeaten 63 yesterday, in his first Test appearance since May 2013, came 1018 days after the previous occasion that he had passed a half century for England.