South Africa vs England: Sam Curran and Quinton de Kock seize limelight with first Test on even keel

South Africa 277-9: The hosts recovered on day one after initially slipping to 111-5

Cricket loves putting people in boxes, and perhaps the two hardest players to gauge spent Boxing Day together in Johannesburg.

In Quinton de Kock, South Africa have a wicketkeeper-batsman who has occupied every position from one to eight. Even as he eventually settled for six or seven, there’s a temptation to move him up further, to furnish him with more responsibility in a Test line-up that changes more than the country’s politicians. And yet without his 95, which started at 97 for four, the hosts would have been facing an inauspicious start to a series in inauspicious times for South African cricket.

In Sam Curran, England have an all-rounder who continues to confound nomenclature junkies. What comes before the “all-rounder” – “batting” or “bowling”? A question that doesn’t need an answer but one which has followed the 21-year old since he came into the Surrey Academy. After a flashy start to international cricket, both his averages have more or less balanced out, hovering now at the 31 mark. Neither here nor there. But actually, right here, he was the difference: taking more than his share of the workload in a five-man attack to pick off crucial wickets, including De Kock’s. Career-best figures of four for 47, with a chance for his maiden five-for on Friday, meant a side ravaged with illness did not return to their beds sick with worry.

Typically, neither performance will offer up much in terms of clarity. The foundation of de Kock’s innings was counter-attacking from the ropes, as has always been his way, and for every full-blooded swish over the slips to suggest looseness, there was a straight drive down the ground which hinted that, actually, maybe this guy could be at home in the top five. His half-century was brought up in a rush of 45 balls and the shot of the day – an on drive you’d bring home to meet your parents – was his 11th four to take him to 63.

There were two alarms against Joe Root’s off-spin – a misguided hack down the ground on 24 and an edge on 34 which was judged to have bounced before being “caught” by Ben Stokes – that would have added fuel to the fire burning among those who have serious reservations over the 27-year old’s sense of duty. Yet then you see his management of the evening session, showing great restraint to tick over without risk and, when faced with a Joe Denly full toss, pat to square leg for a single even if the cornerstone of his very being is built on backing himself to clear the three stationed out on the fence. That maturity ensured a useful partnership of 47 with Vernon Philander for the seventh wicket followed a defining 87-run one for the sixth with Dwayne Pretorious.

Quinton de Kock’s 95 rescued South Africa after an indifferent start (Getty)

The conundrum is a lot more clear cut for Curran, who suffers somewhat from entering an England set-up with a penchant for all-rounders and being regarded from the outside as an inconvenience to balance. Within the set-up, though, he is a cricketer regarded as a provider of stability and someone who, in the nicest way possible, is one of the best England have had at papering over cracks.

The best indications of that are the 31s, and that despite Curran having only three half-centuries and no five wicket-hauls, you can say with certainty that he has won games of cricket with bat and ball. If Ben Stokes is the “in your face” all-rounder, then Curran is the one moving past your left shoulder after tapping you on the right.

As such, there was something quite fitting in the way he finished on four wickets, all but one coming in the first over of his spells, a handy quartet of de Kock, Aiden Markram (20), Rassie van der Dussen and Pretorious (33) picked up at times when South Africa threatened to flip the match completely.

James Anderson removes Dean Elgar with the first ball of the match (Getty)

England did not bowl that well, even if James Anderson picked up Dean Elgar with the first ball of his 150th Test match and considering, at one stage, they had the hosts 111 for five. Were it not for Curran, Jofra Archer would have been further exposed and Stuart Broad flogged even more than he was as Stokes spent large parts of the day off the field suffering from dehydration. Root’s decision to bowl first would have looked all kinds of foolish.

It is also true to say South Africa did not bat that well. Many of their dismissals were a mixture of confused feet and poorly aligned hands. De Kock’s knock, particularly the opening salvo, brought about more decisiveness in footwork and run-scoring which filtered down to the rest. The last five wickets so far have added 166 to the first five’s 111.

Typically for Curran and de Kock, it was difficult to say who had made the more telling impact. A score of 277 of nine, much like the two star men, feels weirdly unquantifiable. It will only be at the game’s conclusion that we’ll have definitive answers regarding who influenced the match for the better.

In terms of the hunt to categorise what exactly Curran and de Kock are and what they can be, we’re no further to an answer. That however, as day one of this series showed, is no bad thing.