England drops compound day's grind

Across England, this was the day when people went back to work. The day when the holiday period ended and they accepted a return to the grind.

The England team will know how they felt. After the party of the previous day, this felt like the hangover. It felt like the day you start counting the weeks until the next break. At times it looked as if England may as well attempt to destroy Table Mountain with a toothpick as take 20 wickets. Ultimately, they claimed just one in the day.

Might it have been different if England had a more varied attack? Might it have been different if they had a good left-arm spinner, such as Monty Panesar at his best, a legspinner, such as Adil Rashid, or the left-arm pace of Mark Footitt?

Possibly. But, seeing how little turn there was for Moeen Ali, or how little lateral movement there was for James Anderson, it seems unlikely. Different is not always better and there is not much evidence to suggest anyone else currently available to England would, realistically, have done better. England's bowlers were consistent, controlled, attempted many variations and never allowed the run rate to escape them. The scorecard might not show it, but they bowled well and played the limited hand dealt to them expertly.

This remains a fine pitch - it is flat, certainly, but there is enough pace and carry to encourage bowlers - and, for much of the day, England bowled at two batsmen who can legitimately be described as great. Hashim Amla has been starved of runs for too long to let this opportunity slide and, with the match situation demanding circumspection, produced a masterclass in discipline and restraint.

True, it was not quite the rollicking entertainment provided by Ben Stokes (while Stokes scored 130 before lunch on day two, Amla scored 93 on the whole of day three), but it was highly impressive and quietly pleasing nevertheless.

If England hoped for any deterioration in the pitch they were to be disappointed. If anything, it slowed and lowered. All three of South Africa's seamers were quicker than all four of England's. Ben Stokes was the only man in the England attack to reach 90mph.

Stokes has a tough task with the ball in this side. If the conditions aid seam and swing, he tends to be the last to have a bowl; if there is nothing in the pitch, he is handed an old ball and told to make things happen. It is no surprise his career average of 41.23 is ugly, but he is some way better than that.

Figures sometimes do not reflect performance. Just ask Steven Finn, who was easily the pick of the bowlers here, but has figures of 1 for 82 to show for it. Yes, he was the least economical of the three specialist seamers, but he maintained his pace and his line and length and regularly discomforted all the batsmen with his bounce. He will bowl - he has bowled - far less well and take several wickets.

Such was England's control, that they retain slim hopes of forcing victory. By limiting South Africa to 212 runs in the day - by contrast, England scored 196 before lunch on day two - they ensured the gulf between the teams remains large (276 runs). But they have already spent 130 overs in the field and would need to take another 17 wickets. It seems unlikely.

"Only one person in the match has been dismissed by a good delivery," Finn said. "It's an attritional wicket which had a bit more zip on the first two days. But we are still a long way ahead so if we can have a good session, we're not ruling anything out."

The one area of their performance that England will regret was their fielding. For the second match in succession, they reprieved both Amla and AB de Villiers. Creating wicket-taking opportunities against such batsmen twice a match is hard enough; to need to do it more often makes winning a Test desperately difficult.

The worst of the misses was by Nick Compton at backward point. Amla already had 120 by the time he sliced his shot off Finn but, given England's vast first-innings total, there was still a chance of applying some pressure. But Compton, apparently losing the ball in the backdrop of the grassy bank and trees that border this pretty ground, was unable to do any more than parry it.

By then, de Villers had been put down by Joe Root at slip off Anderson on 5 (on day two) and Anderson had returned the favour by putting down Amla off Root when he had scored 76. It was Root's first ball of the day and would have rewarded Alastair Cook's decision to bring him into the attack. Anderson, perhaps wearied by bowling, seemed startled by the chance and never looked likely to hold on.

Cook also attempted some thoughtful fields - the short, straight mid-on and mid-offs that are generally the hallmark of slow and flat wickets - and brought on Alex Hales' very part-time offspin for a few overs. Hales once opened the bowling for Hertfordshire U12s with Finn. Suffice it to say, Finn's bowling has improved and Hales' has not. It is hard to see what more Cook have done; a determined Amla, in these conditions and circumstances, is just about as tough a proposition as a bowler can face.

Later Finn appeared slightly slow to react to a potential chance off Faf du Plessis - a leading edge off Anderson looped to mid-off - and was unable to reach the ball, while the harsh might suggest that James Taylor, at short leg, could have caught the same batsmen from an inside edge off Moeen Ali when he had scored 17. Indeed, he could, though it would have been something close to a miracle.

But the lesson of the day's play was clear: if England want to beat the best, they will have to improve their catching. While all sides drop catches, England are starting to do so a little too regularly for comfort. They can expect some long fielding sessions in training ahead of the third Test.