South Africa duo Vernon Philander and Chris Morris halt late England momentum at Trent Bridge

Momentum swung back and forth during an entertaining first day of the second Test between England and South Africa at Trent Bridge, with Vernon Philander and Chris Morris digging in late to help the Proteas reach stumps on 309-6 after a disastrous start to the final session that saw them lose four wickets for only 56 runs.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first in overcast and windy conditions in Nottinghamshire, South Africa, who welcomed back captain Faf du Plessis but were without the suspended Kagiso Rabada following his outburst aimed at Ben Stokes during a heavy 211-run opening defeat at Lord's, lost their first wicket in the 10th over.

Dean Elgar connected with a wide delivery from James Anderson and fell victim to a wonderful slip catch from Liam Dawson. That was the Lancashire paceman's 300th dismissal in a home Test.

Hashim Amla then arrived at the crease and became only the fourth South African batsman to notch 8,000 career Test runs. Rain briefly stopped play after 18.4 overs before he and Heino Kuhn guided the tourists to 56-1 at lunch.

The next success for England came when Kuhn edged a Broad delivery onto his leg stump for 34. Moving Quinton de Kock up the order to bat at four, the Proteas, with England having used up their reviews in naive fashion, enjoyed an otherwise positive afternoon in brighter conditions as the 24-year-old brought up his 50 from 59 balls and Amla struck his 33rd Test half-ton to help South Africa reach tea at 179-2.

Broad struck with the first ball of the evening session by coaxing an edge from De Kock [68] that carried to Cook at slip and Amla [78], who had earlier been dropped by the former skipper, then hooked another of his deliveries to Mark Wood stationed at fine leg. Suddenly South Africa had lost two key wickets for just 15 runs as an impressive stand of 113 was unceremoniously ended.

Du Plessis [19] was the next to fall after a review showed that a Stokes delivery had clipped his glove and thigh pad before carrying behind to Jonny Bairstow, who held on to make a great catch of his own. Temba Bavuma added 20 before falling prey to that same combination, pulling out of a shot too late and paying the price.

Philander [54] and Morris [23] remained resilient as England took the new ball and turned to their spin attack, who largely toiled without reward. Joe Root brought back his seamers in the dying overs, but they could not find a final late breakthrough as Philander struck a half-century and a productive partnership reached 74.