Viljoen makes dream start as England struggle

JOHANNESBURG: Hardus Viljoen took a wicket with his first ball in test cricket as England lost openers Alastair Cook and Alex Hales cheaply to limp to lunch on 27 for two after dismissing South Africa for 313 on Friday.

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Nick Compton and Joe Root were both unbeaten on two at the interval on the second day of the third match of the series which England lead 1-0.

Hales went for one when he edged Kagiso Rabada to AB de Villiers at second slip and Cook continued his poor run after edging Viljoen's first ball down the leg side to be caught by wicketkeeper Dane Vilas for 18.

South Africa had resumed on 267 for seven and England removed Chris Morris and Rabada for the addition of only 14 more runs, both caught by wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, off Stuart Broad and James Anderson, who claiming his first wicket after toiling for 22 overs without success.

But debutant Viljoen, who hit a boundary from the first ball he faced, and Morne Morkel frustrated the bowlers by adding 32 runs in six overs for the last wicket before the innings came to an eventful close.

Bairstow dropped an easy catch off Anderson which denied him a chance to equal the world record of seven dismissals in an innings.

Anderson's follow-through after the delivery led him to encroach on the wicket and having been warned twice for running on the pitch, he was removed from the England attack by umpire Aleem Dar after an acrimonious exchange between the pair.

He had bowled just two balls of his over and Ben Stokes was brought in to complete it, finishing off the innings with his first ball when Morkel edged to Cook at first slip to give the all-rounder his 50th test wicket.

South Africa's total was the lowest for a test innings in which all the batsmen reached double figures.

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