JOHANNESBURG: England was on top early in the third Test, sending South Africa struggling to 267-7 at stumps on the first day at the Wanderers on Thursday.

In a match where England can claim the series with a win, its bowlers made deep inroads into the South African lineup after the home team chose to bat first.

Ben Stokes and Steven Finn collected two wickets each, and substitute fielder Chris Woakes set up the run out of Temba Bavuma, South Africa’s last specialist batsman.

Stokes and Finn were menacing in spells on the quick Wanderers track, and England won’t be upset to have been asked to bowl first.

The dismissals of former captain Hashim Amla for 40 and interim skipper AB de Villiers for 36 were the crucial wickets.

England leads the four-match series 1-0 and is pushing for a first series victory over South Africa in more than a decade. The tourists were in good position to do that after Thursday.

South Africa was partly responsible for its own struggles as a string of batters played loose shots to get out. Opener Stiaan van Zyl top-edged a hook, De Villiers wafted at a ball and gloved a catch down the leg-side, and Faf du Plessis and Dane Vilas hit simple catches to England fielders in the deep. Bavuma was run out after not responding quickly enough to a quick single call by Vilas.

Chris Morris and Kagiso Rabada attempted to repair the innings, with the two bowlers taking South Africa to the close with an unbeaten 42-run stand.

Of England’s bowlers, only James Anderson, the country’s leading wicket-taker, failed to get a wicket on the opening day. Spinner Moeen Ali also played his part on a fast bowler-friendly pitch in Johannesburg by removing opener Dean Elgar for 46 with a good delivery that beat Elgar with turn.

After a change of captaincy midway through the series, top-ranked South Africa’s tumultuous time continued into the third test when wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock was ruled out on the opening morning of the game with a sprained right knee. De Kock sustained the injury by falling over at home on Wednesday, but didn’t realize the extent of the problem until Thursday morning.

The late diagnosis forced South Africa to rush Vilas onto a flight from the southern city of Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg on the morning of the test to fill in as ‘keeper. He was batting hours later.

Elgar (46), Amla and De Villiers all got promising starts for South Africa but didn’t make them count as England kept the pressure on.


Former SAfrica batsman Bodi charged with match-fixing

Former South Africa batsman Gulam Bodi was named as the man charged with match-fixing by Cricket South Africa on Thursday.

Bodi, who played two one-day internationals and a Twenty20 for the Proteas in 2007, was the “intermediary” who was charged under its anti-corruption code in December, CSA said in a statement.

The statement was released after South African media named Bodi earlier Thursday as the former international charged with fixing.

“Following our investigations and due process, we have reached a point where we can confirm that Mr. Bodi is the intermediary,” CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat said.

The India-born Bodi was charged with “contriving to fix” matches or parts of matches in South Africa’s domestic Twenty20 competition known as the Ram Slam, late last year. Bodi didn’t play in the tournament but players who did appear are believed to also be involved in the fixing, although none have been named.

The 37-year-old Bodi was “cooperating with the CSA anti-corruption officials,” and CSA was awaiting his response to the charges, Lorgat said.

The case threatens to re-open the deep scars in South African cricket caused by the Hansie Cronje affair. Cronje, South Africa’s test captain and one of its best-loved sportsmen, was banned for life in 2000 after it was revealed he was in contact with bookmakers to fix games. The scandal rocked South African sport. Cronje died in a plane crash in 2002.