South Africa vs England 2017: 4th Test day 1, 5 talking points

The game see-sawed between the two sides on day 1 at Old Trafford after England won the toss and opted to bat first. They ended the day on 260/6, a fairly good position considering the movement on offer on this track. Alastair Cook and Tom Westley departed in quick succession to leave England in a spot of bother but Root and Stokes compiled half-centuries only to be dismissed soon after.

The Proteas attack lacked bite in the absence of Vernon Philander, but Morkel hit his straps early on. Rabada came into his own after a dull opening spell and caused several problems, especially to Root. His battle with the England skipper turned out to be an exciting period of play.

Stokes stroked a fine half-century before Rabada uprooted his stumps with a terrific yorker late in the day. Bairstow remained unbeaten on 33 with Roland-Jones at the other end.

Brief Scores: England 260/6 (Stokes 58, Root 52, Rabada 2/52)

Here are the talking points from the day's play.

#5 Philander, Morris out injured as South Africa forced to make changes

South Africa lost Philander to a back spasm

The visitors suffered a major setback in their bid to level the series as their strike bowler, Vernon Philander, who had hobbled through the Oval Test, suffered another injury that ruled him out of the match. Chris Morris, the second bowling all-rounder in the Test side, was also ruled out with a lower back strain as South Africa were forced to make changes to their squad.

Theunis de Bruyn, the middle-order batsman who bowls a bit of medium pace, was picked as a seventh batsman while Duanne Olivier, dropped after the Trent Bridge Test, returned to the line-up. Losing Philander was a huge blow to the Proteas, who had banked on him against England's left-heavy top order.

#4 South African seamers wayward with the new ball

Morkel was the only bowler who put the England batsmen under pressure

Morne Morkel began proceedings for South Africa by beating Alastair Cook's bat thrice in the opening over. But Kagiso Rabada couldn't keep up the good work and was wayward early on, as was Duanne Olivier.

On a spicy wicket, England were given far too many loose balls to kick start their innings. Morkel continued to bowl the right lines and generated enough oomph from the surface to put the left-handers in trouble but it was Olivier who reaped the rewards when he found Jennings' edge. That said, South Africa would have been disappointed with their start on a wicket Vernon Philander would have loved bowling on.

#3 Cook, Westley get starts

Quinton de Kock grabbed a superb catch to send Westley back

Alastair Cook and Tom Westley revived England's innings after Keaton Jennings had edged Olivier to the keeper. The former England skipper looked shaky at the start but soon settled into his groove as he nudged and tucked his way into the 40s.

Just when it looked like Cook would go all the way this time around, Maharaj produced an absolute peach of a delivery to eke out an edge to de Kock.

Westley, meanwhile, was composing another one of his superlative knocks, flicking Maharaj elegantly through mid-wicket nonchalantly, however, Cook's dismissal set the cat amongst the pigeons. He nicked Kagiso Rabada behind and Quinton de Kock grabbed another stunner to send the latest experiment at no.3 back.

#2 Morkel interrupts Malan's career saving knock

Malan might as well have slammed the bat on his head after that loose shot at the stroke of tea

Dawid Malan was looking to salvage his reputation with a decent knock in the company of his skipper, Joe Root. He had been undone by a rip roaring Kagiso Rabada yorker on his debut and was willing himself to construct an innings this time around.

He drove Rabada through the covers with elegant ease to put behind the corker of a delivery he had received on debut. A well clipped four off Morkel followed. But a rush of blood followed the two boundaries as he unleashed an expansive drive off Morkel and edged to du Plessis at slip right before tea.

#1 Root vs Rabada

Root made yet another fifty but his intriguing battle with Rabada turned out to be the highlight of the day

Joe Root against Kagiso Rabada turned out to be the contest of the day as the South African pacer dished out unplayable deliveries at the England skipper. Root, although not as compact as in the previous Test, managed to survive three LBW shouts, one of which proved to be umpire's call on review.

Rabada beat his bat or found the inside edge consistently in a riveting spell of fast bowling but Root held his own. It was Olivier who reaped rewards for Rabada's spell as he eventually trapped the Yorkshire lad in front, but not before he got to a tenth consecutive Test half-century. Root also crossed 5000 Test runs during this innings.