England took four wickets in final session on first day of fourth Test...
Saturday 23 January 2016 07:43, UK
Nasser Hussain says England showed a lot of character in the final session on day one of the fourth Test, taking four South African wickets.
Stephen Cook (115) struck a century on debut for South Africa and Hashim Amla (109) hit a second hundred in the series as the hosts dominated before tea.
But in the evening England, who have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, reduced South Africa to 329-5 at stumps.
"People were questioning whether England were up for it, in a dead rubber," said Hussain. "But they fought back nicely.
"The side has shown a lot of skill to win the series, but today they showed a lot of character.
"We all know who would have had the honours if it hadn't been for that final session, South Africa were 237-1 and bossing the game so England needed that session, got the four wickets and they have fought back into the game.
"It is what has made for an interesting series. Both batting line-ups are fragile, so no side ever feels like they're out of it.
"South Africa will feel the same when they go out to bowl, as AB de Villiers said in the press conference prior to the Test, he feels there are little chinks in the England line-up.
Despite their fightback, Hussain says it was at best a "mixed day" for England, due to Cook and Amla's earlier efforts, and a counter-attacking 56-run stand between Temba Bavuma (32no) and Quinton de Kock (25no) that saw off the second new ball.
"With that second new ball England would have wanted South Africa to go into their shell, and not score," added Hussain. "South Africa have quite a long tail, there is not much to come tomorrow, but Bavuma and De Kock wouldn't let them build any pressure. It was a mixed day for England.
"Not only did those two play well, but it was the style of their play that was impressive. The modern wicketkeeper has to come in at number seven and counter-attack, and De Kock definitely does that.
"Stephen Cook was under pressure due to this being the last Test of the series. If you make your debut in a first Test, you probably feel you're going to play two, three, four games but the last Test of a series can be an absolute nightmare.
"If you don't make any runs, that could be your chance gone, you're forgotten, but he delivered under pressure.
"Amla played brilliantly today. While Cook is more of a grinder, Amla at the other end is incredibly pleasing on the eye.
"He has that twirl of the back-lift, his driving, hitting the ball off-side and leg-side was superb, so it was a real surprise when he then ended up dragging one onto his stumps, as when he gets in, he normally goes big. It was a beautiful, high class innings."
Our day two live blog begins at 7.45am on Saturday with live coverage commencing on Sky Sports 2 at 8am.
