Dean Elgar says they will only know what a par score on the Wanderers wicket is once both teams have batted.

South Africa were 267-7 at stumps after the first day’s play with Chris Morris (26) and Kagiso Rabada (20) set to continue on Friday.

Elgar, who top-scored with 46, feels it will be difficult to judge what a par first innings total will be until both teams have batted, but that anything above 300 will be a competitive total, considering the tricky conditions.

‘There were one or two wickets too many that fell,’ he said at the press conference after the day’s play.

‘I think it’s that kind of wicket, where you can always lose a few in quick succession if you are relatively new at the crease. All in all I think it was a good day for us. It was a hard-fought session or two with the bat upfront.

‘It’s been a focal point that we have been working on with our batting unit, that is for our late middle-order and lower batsmen to come in and make a big play for us. We have seen in the past; that when the tail wags it is really frustrating for the opposition when they get runs. It was a brilliant effort from Chris and Kagiso to put into practice what we have been talking about.’

It was a manic start to the day with the freak injury to Quinton de Kock and the late call-up of Dane Vilas, but the squad has continued as usual and taken the disruptions in their stride.

‘There is absolutely nothing you can do,’ Elgar said of freak injuries. ‘I have mentioned it in the past that we are a tight and strong unit. It’s one of those things, I’ve spoken about adapting to the wicket, I guess it’s also one of those things that you have to adapt to as a professional player. It’s unfortunate that it happened to Quinton, it seems to happen to him a lot, but it’s one of those challenges that you will be faced with and you just have to crack on and deal with it.’