England’s Zak Crawley shows right qualities despite finding going tough | Chris Stocks

Opener buried his natural instincts to amass 44 from 137 balls on a slow wicket in Port Elizabeth to lay a solid base for rest of England’s batsmen

For Zak Crawley, after three hours and 23 minutes of hard graft in the searing Port Elizabeth heat, the disappointment at missing out on a maiden Test half-century was palpable.

Yet his innings of 44 from 137 balls played a major part in helping England end the opening day of this third Test ahead of the game given the spin and variable bounce – illustrated by the Kagiso Rabada delivery that kept low to bowl the England captain, Joe Root – that this slow pitch has shown during the first 90 overs.

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