South Africa vs England, 1st Test at Centurion, WTC, Dec 26 2019 - Ball by Ball Commentary

1.20pm: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, Zip-a-dee-ay! South Africa have won a Test - what a wonderful day! The wounded buffaloes have drawn first blood in this series, leaving Root's lions limping on to the Newlands Test with another L against their record. They'll hope to have a fitter group to pick from in five days' time, with an early finish here perhaps aiding recuperation. South Africa, meanwhile, will be aiming to keep their New Year's revolution going down on the Cape, and of course we'll be back for more... until then, Miller's report is the place to start, and stick around for more to come from Firdose and George. Thanks, as ever, for all your comments. From Matt, Miller and myself, it's cheerio for now. Bye!

1pm: Time for the presentations, starting with England captain Joe Root: "Yes, been really tough off the field, had pretty much everything thrown at the group, 10 guys going down ill and credit to everyone they stood up and tried to put in the best performance possible, didn't let anyone down. [Chance of winning?] Absolutely, not been long since we've seen a similar chase from a similar group of players. We got ourselves in a position at lunch, same as Headingley, we were fully confident we could chase, put together partnerships and needed to get through the new ball. [Poor first innings?] Really disappointing but pleasing to see us put in a better performance straight away. [Bowl first?] Think it was 50-50, you get a side 111-5 and you think you're ahead of the game. Maybe a slight opportunity missed but credit to South Africa as well. [Cape Town] Pretty much everyone's been ill, hopefully that's the end of it and we can prepare well and bounce back strong. [Archer five-for] He's a huge talent, he can have a massive impact, still at the start of his Test career and he's going to keep learning and getting better. Great response after New Zealand, shown a lot of character."

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis: "We needed that, the last couple of months have been tough. We worked really hard building up and I thought it was a really good Test. Today the effort was incredible, and the wickets came towards the end. We haven't won a Test in a while, for us this is the start of a new chapter, we want to go up to better things and this is just the start, make sure we keep working hard and doing the right things. The bowling in the whole Test match was very good. Probably day one and two was most in it for the bowlers, both teams bowled well. The sun at SuperSport Park makes it go up and down. The last two days were better for batting, so to keep a strong England team to 2.6 [RPO] for the day was credit, made sure they didn't go anywhere. I thought Anrich Nortje was really good, we expect that from KG but Anrich in his first Test at home - we know he's got a lot of pace but I thought he bowled with great control. Good signs for the Test team going forward. We need new bowlers, with Vern off to greener pastures, now we're going to need one or two more. [Debutants] Really happy with those things, going to the guys and saying that's the best feeling, winning a Test match. First one is emotional. You create a platform for them to feel welcome, and go out and do their thing."

Quinton de Kock is named Man of the Match: "Yeah, the situation, I had to understand how I was going to go about things, I thought they bowled well and made us struggle but it's nice to go out and contribute when the team's in a tough situation. Glad we got over the line. When I went out, I was thinking I should leave well, get into rhythm but I went with what was going at the moment. [Second innings] Obviously Jofra was coming in hard and I had to find a way to counteract that, that was the best way I thought to go about it. [Hand injury?] Finger's all good, got keeper's fingers, just another day in my life. Probably be sore tomorrow but I'll carry on."

2.52pm: Well, it wasn't that close in the end, was it? South Africa held their nerve and eventually the collapse came, England losing their last seven wickets for 64. So Faf du Plessis' team will take a 1-0 lead in the series, ahead of round two in Cape Town next week. Lots to sift through, but clearly England's decision to bowl first backfired on them, and they twice tumbled from promising positions - 142 for 3 in the first innings, and 204 for 3 today. South Africa's good bowling went largely unrewarded in the morning, but they chipped away, with Anrich Nortje particularly impressive at key moments. In the end, the architect of England's first-innings demise, Vernon Philander, was left wicketless but that bonus wasn't enough to get them close. First win in six Tests for South Africa, and a huge boost to du Plessis after the turmoil of recent weeks.

"6 for 58 runs....England doing England again," chirps Amit

Out walks James Anderson, wearing spectacles a look of grim resignation. We're still some way off Jack and Ben territory

Small victories dept: This is the highest fourth-innings score at Centurion

The physio now comes out belatedly to check over Broad's helmet. We've reached the scheduled point for tea, but they will stay out with a result looming

"Proper chainsaw celebration from Nortje," notes Firdose. Stuart Broad trudges out

Beamer coming?

Miller notes this: England needed 125 runs with three wickets in hand at the fall of Curran's wicket. Which is exactly what they conceded in yesterday morning's session

"Since you are publishing none of my comments, I am going to bed early. It is raining here in Thailand." That's just the update I was waiting for, Raj. Unfortunately for England, it's not raining in Centurion

"Is it fair to say that the wounded buffaloes have the lions wounded??" They have them on their horns, Gururaj. But this is a four-Test safari, remember

Jofra Archer is next man in, with Buttler needing an ally

David: "Interesting question though Alan, who will play in the next Test though for SA, Nortje or Ngidi?" A tough decision for the selectors, that one, although I'm not sure Ngidi will be fit until Port Elizabeth. Good problems to have, though