Stokes, Pope stymie South Africa

England pair Ben Stokes and Ollie Pope shared an unbroken stand of 76 for the fifth wicket as England completed day one of the third test on 224 for four at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth on Thursday.

The slow nature of the pitch at St George's Park resulted in runs being hard to come by, but by the end of the day Stokes with 38 and Ollie Pope 39 had made a conscious effort to try up the run rate.

They will likely look to continue being positive when play resumes on day two as they push towards a first-innings total of some substance.

While Keshav Maharaj bowled 30 unchanged overs, Kagiso Rabada was the most successful of the home team bowlers taking 2-41, including the prized wicket of England captain Joe Root.

Faf du Plessis lost the toss for the sixth consecutive time and Root had no hesitation in taking first strike.

The cause of the England opening pair was helped somewhat when Du Plessis opted to start with new cap Dane Paterson instead of the real quick men in Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje.

CLEVER TRAP

Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley went unscathed through the morning session but their partnership of 70 was halted when Rabada dismissed the latter in a clever legside trap set by Du Plessis.

Dean Elgar snapped up the catch at leg gully and Sibley was out 36.

Nortje used the field placing to get rid of Crawley as Rassie van der Dussen took an impressive low catch.

Maharaj was rewarded for his tireless effort after tea when he trapped Joe Denly leg before wicket for 25.

And when Rabada came back to scatter England skipper Root's wicket for 27, the South Africans were buoyant with the visitors on 148 for four.

England’s match-winner from Cape Town, Ben Stokes, offered a sharp, early chance to short leg Pieter Malan who couldn't get enough of his right hand on the ball.

But after that the left-hander looked pretty good and he and Pope looked to score whenever they could.

South Africa bowling coach Charl Langeveldt said he was pleased with way the attack had executed its plans.

'WE STUCK TO OUR GAME PLAN'

"It was hard work. But I think we stuck to our game plan to keep them under two-and-a-half per over for long lengths of time. It was hard work but I think we stuck to it well."

He also had some praise for Maharaj.

"Brilliant. I think Keshav was awesome. He created a lot of chances and kept the run-rate down. He looked the most threatening of the bowlers," said Langeveldt.

England opener Zak Crawley believes the tourists are in a good position to kick on.

"It was a tough day, very tough to score but also tough to bowl on. It was attritional cricket," said Crawley.

"I think it was a very good day today. Stokesy and Pope played really well to put us in a good position for tomorrow. A low 300-score will be good for us."

With the four-match series level at 1-1, both teams will be determined to win at the country's oldest test venue in order to have the advantage heading into the final test at Bidvest Wanderers in Johannesburg starting 24 January.

SOUTH AFRICA: Dean Elgar, Pieter Malan, Zubayr Hamza, Faf du Plessis (capt), Rassie van der Dussen, Quinton de Kock (wk), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Dane Paterson

ENGLAND: Zak Crawley, Dominic Sibley, Joe Denly, Joe Root (capt), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood