Friday 14 July 2017 19:28, UK
Bob Willis says the brave calls made by returning South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis paid off on day one of the second Test...
Being 1-0 down in the series, South Africa had to change their side, and their approach.
They've done both. It has been a breath of fresh air for the team to have Faf du Plessis back as captain - it was a brave decision from the skipper to bat first this morning.
Especially brave considering the gloomy overhead conditions first thing and given James Anderson and Stuart Broad's record at Trent Bridge.
The team selection, as well, was a very positive one. They took the risk of a long tail - Vernon Philander in as high as No 7 - so there was enormous responsibility on the senior players in the top order.
They were up to the task. The openers showed a bit of grit - Heino Kuhn played better than I thought he could. He looked to be a walking wicket at Lord's.
Up against what is possibly England's greatest ever bowling partnership, in Anderson and Broad, he coped very well.
Hashim Amla took on the mantle when Anderson removed Dean Elgar - his 300th wicket at home - while it was a no-brainer to move Quinton de Kock up the order to No 4.
He is a very talented player and though he didn't play particularly flamboyantly today, you looked up at the scoreboard and saw he was fast picking up runs and swiftly catching up Amla in their century stand.
The momentum he gives the innings is crucial for South Africa, as their batting can get really stymied from time to time - the likes of Kuhn, Amla, Du Plessis playing together.
The major disappointment for the visitors is that neither he nor Amla could kick on to a century. It's difficult to put one's finger on why the well has run dry when it comes to Amla Test match hundreds, in particular - he has only one in the last 18 months.
We remember vividly him scoring runs at will on South Africa's 2012 tour here, getting a triple-century at The Oval, but his dismissal today was really out of character.
Perhaps it's due to taking part in more limited-overs cricket? That might well be affecting his Test-match technique. England bowled a lot of bouncers at him - some of them pretty well directed - but the old Amla would have let them go by, whereas now he wants to take them on. In the end, it caused his undoing.
That was one of three wickets for Broad, who just loves playing at his home ground. He bowled magnificently and more and more looks like the leader of the attack.
You got the feeling in the recent past he was often bowling with an injury or two but he ran in with a great deal of purpose today.
This pitch certainly hasn't provided the same amount of assistance as the one where he took 8-15 on against Australia two years ago. There doesn't seem to be a lot of pace in the pitch and at one stage it looked like South Africa would quite comfortably get up to a score of 400. That looks less likely now.
The England bowlers plugged away, picking up some rewards in the final session, but it has been a frustrating first day in many respects.
England conceded regular boundaries - Mark Wood and Ben Stokes going at roughly four runs per over - though credit to Root for keeping reasonably attacking fields throughout.
Wood, for me, should be used in very short, sharp bursts. He is England's quickest bowler on paper but there are just too many four balls from him, while Stokes is still very much a work-in-progress with the ball. He certainly hasn't got the control of previous talismanic allrounders, Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff. There are just too many bad deliveries, although he does have that happy knack of picking up wickets.
Stokes' two today came courtesy of a couple of fine catches by Jonny Bairstow, who continues to have a fantastic series behind the stumps.
I have been one of his harshest critics previously, but he has worked so hard on his keeping and it is definitely paying dividends.
Watch live coverage of day two of the second Test between England and South Africa at Trent Bridge, on Sky Sports 2 from 10am on Saturday.
