Philander proves poisonous in Proteas and England stalemate

Much like the London weather, the Proteas bowlers were on and off during the first day of the third Test against England at The Oval on Thursday.

There were times were commendably tight and actually made life difficult for the home batsmen but England’s score of 171/4 at the early close felt a bit unfulfilling.

That was pretty much down to the reliable Alistair Cook.

The former English skipper was typically gritty in crafting a solid, unbeaten 82.

He remains the model of what an old-fashioned Test batsman is all about.

Cook was fortunate when a Proteas review for LBW went awry because he actually nicked a Chris Morris delivery.

Had there not been an edge, it seemed he might’ve been on his way.

Nonetheless, Cook was class personified as he resisted a good South African attack.

The Proteas started superbly after Vernon Philander once again exposed the many flaws in Keaton Jennings’ technique.

The son of former national coach Ray clearly has some issues to iron out and it wasn’t much of a surprise when he edged the seamer to third slip.

Philander didn’t bowl much throughout the day because of a stomach bug.

But when he was on the field, he looked deadly.

The stocky seamer also had the dangerous Joe Root (26) caught behind with a magnificent delivery that squared the home captain up.

He ended the day with 2/17 from 12 overs.

Kagiso Rabada (1/32) also left his mark by castling debutant Dawid Malan with a cracking leg stump yorker, while Morris (1/48) accounted for another debutant, Tom Westley (25), after inducing a drive.

However, Morris was the weak link as he conceded runs too freely.

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