South Africa v England, First Test, Day Three: England on top as Joe Root's magical year continues
As play closed on Day Three at Kingsmead, England would end up as a much happier outfit after they finished the day with a lead of 261 runs with seven wickets in hand and two more days to go in the Test.
Starting Day Three on 137/4, South Africa would have been hoping for a good performance from the rest of the batting lineup. However, Bavuma lost his wicket early in the day to become Stuart Broad's fourth victim.
JP Duminy and Kyle Abbott went out cheaply soon after to Moeen Ali, who picked up four wickets for England. Dale Steyn gave some support to opener Dean Elgar, who carried his bat and reached his fourth Test century. The last South African batsman to carry his bat was Gary Kirsten against Pakistan in 1997.
Steyn became Ali's fourth victim after making a useful 17 off 52 balls. Steven Finn cleaned up the South African tail as he got Dane Piedt and Morne Morkel out in a single over to bowl out South Africa for 214 runs.
England lost Alastair Cook quite early yet again as he took 27 balls for his seven runs. Dane Piedt bowled the perfect line to dismiss Cook leg-before wicket. Alex Hales again failed to build on a start as he was dismissed trying to hit Piedt for a six.
Nick Compton, who had a successful return to cricket with an 85 in the first innings continued his good form as was invovled in a 71-run partnership with Joe Root. Compton, though, missed out on his fifty as he edged Morkel to AB de Villiers.
Joe Root, however, continued to bat well as he scored his 13th fifty of the year. Root has now equalled Virender Sehwag for the highest number of Test fifties in a calendar year. Sehwag had scored 13 Test fifties in 2010.
James Taylor stuck by Root to see England through to the end of the third day without any hiccups and finish at 172/3. Dane Piedt picked up two wickets for South Africa while Morkel picked up the other wicket.
The biggest blow, however, for South Africa will be missing the services of Dale Steyn, who had to leave the game midway due to a shoulder strain. Despite Steyn coming back to bowl, it does not seem likely that he will be able to play a part in the Test anymore. He also seems a definite doubt for the second Test in Cape Town.
Root's unbeaten 60 has taken him above his captain, Cook in the leading Test run-scorers for 2015, behind Australian captain Steven Smith.
England will be hoping that Root can go on and score a big knock to help set South Africa a huge target. How South Africa will tackle another big target remains to be seen on how they perform with the ball tomorrow.
Scorecard:
England 1st Innings: 303/10
South Africa Batting 1st Innings: 214/10, 81.4 overs
| Batsman | Runs |
| Stiaan van Zyl | 0 (2) |
| Dean Elgar | 118* (246) |
| Hashim Amla | 7 (24) |
| AB de Villiers | 49 (79) |
| Faf du Plessis | 2 (19) |
| Temba Bavuma | 10 (35) |
| JP Duminy | 2 (15) |
| Kyle Abbott | 0 (6) |
| Dale Steyn | 17 (52) |
| Dane Piedt | 1 (9) |
| Morne Morkel | 0 (3) |
South Africa Bowling:
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets |
| Stuart Broad | 15 | 25 | 4 |
| Chris Woakes | 14 | 28 | 0 |
| Moeen Ali | 25 | 69 | 4 |
| Steven Finn | 15.4 | 49 | 2 |
| Ben Stokes | 9 | 25 | 0 |
| Joe Root | 3 | 11 | 0 |
England Batting, 2nd Innings: 172/3, 64 overs
| Batsman | Runs |
| Alastair Cook | 7 (27) |
| Alex Hales | 26 (84) |
| Nick Compton | 49 (116) |
| Joe Root | 60* (109) |
| James Taylor | 24* (48) |
South Africa Bowling:
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets |
| Dale Steyn | 3.5 | 10 | 0 |
| Morne Morkel | 13.3 | 19 | 1 |
| Kyle Abbott | 13.4 | 36 | 0 |
| Dane Piedt | 18 | 65 | 2 |
| Dean Elgar | 7 | 19 | 0 |
| Stiaan van Zyl | 7 | 12 | 0 |
| JP Duminy | 1 | 5 | 0 |