If Temba Bavuma can push on and form some partnerships in the lower order, it will go a long way towards keeping his side in the match.
It’s unlikely that the Proteas will be able to close in on England’s 458, so the first task has to be avoiding the follow-on, and they need 44 more runs to achieve that.
Once they get past that, what they can do is frustrate the English bowlers and wear them down mentally, and Bavuma and De Kock did excellent jobs of doing that against the opposition throughout last season.
They need to draw inspiration from that fighting spirit, in a season which saw De Kock emerge as the most dangerous wicketkeeper-batsman in Test cricket.
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But Kagiso Rabada won’t want De Kock to come in any time soon. The paceman will walk to the crease on nine, with an excellent opportunity to show his worth as an all-rounder. He’ll have to put his ban from the second Test behind him, and concentrate on what is a difficult challenge at hand.
Getting Theunis de Bruyn for 48 was a massive breakthrough for the English in the evening session on day two, and they’ll have their tails up. Twelve overs remain until the second new ball is taken, and the hosts will look to get as much out of it as they can until they turn to Stuart Broad and James Anderson.
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