Openers Dominic Sibley (30*) and Zak Crawley (20*) were at the crease when the umpires called for Lunch on Thursday.
England's Zak Crawley (C) plays a shot as South Africa's Pieter Malan (R) and South Africa's Quinton de Kock (L) looks on during the first day of the third Test cricket match between South Africa and England at the St George's Park Cricket Ground in Port Elizabeth on January 16, 2020. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
England had scored 61 runs without losing any wicket at Lunch on Day 1 against South Africa in the third Test match of the four-match series at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth.
Openers Dominic Sibley (30*) and Zak Crawley (20*) were at the crease after 27 overs when the umpires called for Lunch on Thursday.
Earlier, England skipper Joe Root had won the toss and opted to bat. Dane Paterson made his debut for South Africa, whereas Mark Wood returns for England.
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“Jofra (Archer) pulled up a little sore with his elbow, but credit to Woody (Mark Wood), he’s fit and firing and that’s an exciting place to be, and two guys up around 90mph is an exciting place for England cricket. We need to make sure we back up (Cape Town) well,” said Root after winning the toss.
Meanwhile, Faf du Plessis said: “To be honest, it was a tough one to decide, a bit of swing on day one, then day two it becomes a batting day, a bit of thinking to bowl but I’d have batted first with the sun out. The positive option is picking (Dane) Paterson – a skiddy bowler, hitting the stumps, does well on coastal wickets.”
The series is currently tied at 1-1 as the Proteas won the first Test by 107 runs and the Three Lions bagged the second by 179 runs.
Here are the Playing XIs of both the teams:
England: Zak Crawley, Dominic Sibley, Joe Denly, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood
South Africa: Dean Elgar, Pieter Malan, Zubayr Hamza, Faf du Plessis (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Quinton de Kock (wk), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Dane Paterson
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