Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad made telling contributions with bat and ball to leave England in control of the first test against South Africa after Day 2.
LONDON — Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad made telling contributions with bat and ball to leave England in charge of the first test against South Africa after Day 2 on Friday.
Ali scored 87 and Broad smashed an unbeaten 57 off 47 balls as England added 101 runs to its overnight score before being dismissed for 458. Joe Root, in his first test as captain, was out for 190.
The Proteas' reply began badly and they were stuttering at 104-4 just after tea on a decent-looking pitch thanks to two wickets apiece from Broad's pace bowling and Ali's offspin.
Tenda Bavuma and Theunis de Bruyn put on a 99-run stand for the fifth wicket to lead South Africa's recovery, but De Bruyn nicked James Anderson behind in the fifth-to-last over of the day to set back the tourists once again.
Bavuma was unbeaten on 48 and South Africa trailed by 244 runs on 214-5, facing an important morning's play on Saturday against the new ball.
Ali became the seventh English player to pass 2,000 test runs and take 100 test wickets.