Vernon Philander says that the Proteas never displayed their best fielding on day one against England. 

The Proteas put on an ill-disciplined bowling stint, after a good start saw England pinned back at 82-4 going into lunch.

Philander said there are ‘no excuses’ for the nine no-balls and the costly wicket of Joe Root, who was dropped on 16 and stumped on a no-ball from Keshav Maharaj while on 149.

The England debutant captain went on to experience a delightful innings, which saw him end day one on an unbeaten 184.

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Philander was the standout performe,r finishing with figures of 3-46 in his 16 overs, the highlight of a disappointing day.

‘It was a disappointing end for us having had them 82-4,’ he said at stumps.

‘In saying that, I don’t think it was our best display in the field today, to be honest.

‘There is no excuse for that [the no-balls].

‘A couple of guys overstepped on a few occasions and it cost us a couple of wickets, which were expensive for us. There is no excuse and it was a poor day in the field for all of us.’

With the new ball in hand, Philander says the attack will need to regroup and show some character if they are to restrict England to a manageable first innings total.

‘We need to get five wickets as quickly as possible,’  he said.

‘We have to come back tomorrow and show some good character with the ball. Hopefully, we can restrict them to 450 and go and bat well.’

England will resume on 357-5 with Root (184) and Moeen Ali (61) at the crease.

Play is scheduled to start at 11:00am local time, 12:00pm SAST.

Photo: Muzi Ntombela/Backpagepix