South Africa vs England: Quinton de Kock keeps his cool to drag Proteas back from brink

Quinton de Kock’s 95, coming with South Africa on the rocks at 97 for four on the opening day of the first Test against England, had one point of contention.

On 34, de Kock edged Joe Root low to Ben Stokes at first slip. The catch was taken, but there was uncertainty as to whether the ball had carried which was heightened when the big screen was brought into the equation. With a soft signal of “not out” and doubt in the television umpire’s mind, de Kock was off the hook.

But the left-hander, whose 18th Test half-century boosted South Africa to a score of 277 for nine, had no doubt about the legitimacy of the take.

“When I saw it, I thought ‘no that ball definitely bounced’,” stated de Kock in his post-match press conference. “I was fairly confident and the replays were a lot closer than I first thought. But that was my immediate reaction.”

The close shave did little to perturb de Kock as he brought up his fifty in 45 balls and then made hay in the evening as he rounded on what would have been a fifth century in the format. However, he eventually fell five runs short - undone by an inspired Sam Curran.

The all-rounder was the pick of the bowlers, taking four for 57 to keep England in the match. A maiden five-wicket haul looked secured when he trapped Keshav Maharaj LBW. Unfortunately for the Surrey left-armer, an immediate review showed a thick inside edge and the wicket was overturned. There remains one chance tomorrow morning.

“Don’t start,” bemoaned Curran when asked about the incident and the five-for that wasn’t. “I thought that was so out. When he went up for the review, I thought I had it. Hopefully tomorrow will be the day.”

Both de Kock and Curran regard honours as even right now, with the South African believing a score of 300 will be adequate on a pitch that will prove challenging over the next four days.

But much will rest on how England’s players recover and avoid the illness that has decimated their squad. Currently Jack Leach, Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes are being quarantined at the hotel and Ben Stokes, named in the XI, spent chunks of the game off the field being treated for dehydration. It is uncertain whether he has caught “the bug”, and England hope he pulls up better tomorrow.

Curran, though, expects all involved - in and out of the team - to stay strong, as they have done over the last fortnight.

“We are trying to be as careful as we can. We are sticking together because its not nice when you have three guys at the hotel, who may have been bowling in this match. Fingers crossed he [Stokes] is feeling better. We want him to be as well as possible. We know his character is very strong.”