Dom Bess takes five wickets but rain, drops and South Africa stall England

How South Africa needed some rain, not just because of the parched landscape of the Eastern Cape, but also since a draw in the Third Test now represents their highest ambition. After an interrupted day they finished on 208 for six, which represents quite a recovery since they were creaking ominously on 113 for five when the swirling drizzle enveloped St George’s Park 10 minutes before lunch.

By then Dom Bess had taken three key wickets, to add to the two taken on Friday night, thereby leaving the stattos researching when an English spinner last took the first five wickets to fall in a Test innings. The answer is Derek Underwood in the Adelaide Test of January 1975.

Related: South Africa v England: third Test, day three – live!

Bess took his wickets in the approved manner from two catches around the bat by Ollie Pope, an equally irrepressible youngster who is also bringing fresh energy to the England team; the third victim was bowled by a turning delivery. As a consequence some serious blinking was required.

Remember that Bess was not in the original tour party; the selectors preferred the leg-breaks of Matt Parkinson until a genuine vacancy appeared as it became clear that the unfortunate Jack Leach was struggling for fitness. So Bess was summoned; in Cape Town he was selected and played a vital supporting role, providing his captain control but only two wickets. Here he is vying for top billing alongside Pope and, of course, Ben Stokes.

Bess, like Leach, has only really come to the fore as a consequence of Somerset’s decision to liven up some of their pitches by allowing the ball to turn. Opportunity knocked; the spinners were pressed into action, gaining invaluable experience along the way. Both Leach and Bess have learned quickly and are now internationals. The ECB’s gratitude for the evolution of two spinners capable of playing in a Test match may be real but is expressed in curious ways: currently that involves a 12-point penalty for Somerset imposed for the start of the 2020 season because of preparing pitches that are too encouraging for spin bowlers.

There is every chance that the Galle pitch which England will encounter in Sri Lanka in March will have many similarities with one or two at Taunton. The surface in Port Elizabeth is nowhere near as helpful but Bess found just enough turn to induce an edginess in the top-order South Africa batsmen; he also displayed excellent control, thereby adding to the nervousness of a side whose confidence is flaky.

Bess came away from a spin camp in Mumbai last December enthusing about how much he had been helped by Richard Dawson, once an England off-spinner and now a respected coach, and Rangana Herath, the canniest Sri Lankan left-armer. After consultation between the England staff and Somerset a specific winter programme for Bess was established with Herath having been identified as a bowler who relied on subtleties and skill rather than freakish ability and therefore a suitable mentor.

They have not overhauled Bess’s technique but so far in this series he appears to be a much more patient bowler, who is far less likely to propel those loose deliveries that relieve the pressure and relax the batsmen. However, he remains a wonderfully exuberant character determined to make the most of his talents and he is up for any challenge. One day he may get picked for England when he is not Leach’s understudy – hopefully in Galle when they may be able to play alongside one another.

Joe Root clearly has faith in Bess. He was introduced as early as the eighth over on Friday evening and he started alongside Mark Wood on Saturday morning. For Dean Elgar, he soon stationed a silly point; the left-hander propped forward; the ball took the inside edge of the bat, hit the front pad and popped out on the off-side where Pope lunged forward to take a fine one-handed catch. It was a neat reminder that the ball does not have to turn to take a wicket. However, Bess was getting the odd delivery to grip.

Out came Faf du Plessis, short of runs and keen to impose himself. With Bess bowling around the wicket and a gap (far too big) at straight mid-off Du Plessis struck two crisp off drives to the boundary. So Bess switched to bowling over the wicket and Du Plessis came down the wicket but not quite to the pitch of the ball. An inside edge went from the front pad quickly to short-leg and into the hands of the alert Pope.

In the meantime Wood had bowled four impressive, well-directed overs at pace, hurrying batsmen even if he could not dismiss them. Just after drinks there was a rare blemish in the field when Anrich Nortje, who is proving to be such a stubborn nightwatchman, was dropped by Root at slip off Bess. Then a half chance from the face of Rassie van der Dussen’s bat hit Pope’s hands without sticking. No matter; Van der Dussen, who had hit the off-spinner boldly over mid-wicket, now spied runs on the off-side but his attempted cut shot only sent the ball on to the stumps from an inside edge.

When play resumed after the rain at 3.30 Nortje remained heroically immovable while Quinton de Kock, the most exquisite timer of a cricket ball, seemed to have half a second longer than anyone else to line up Wood, in particular. He did have escapes off the bowling of Root, on 30 and 56, when Stokes missed sharp chances at slip – and there was another miss by him, just as tricky, when Joe Denly bowled the penultimate over the day. Otherwise De Kock delivered the silkiest of half-centuries. He was ably supported by Vernon Philander in the final hour. Mysteriously Stokes, South Africa’s ultimate tormentor at Newlands, was not required to bowl until the 61st over of the innings. In his second over Nortje was well held at slip by Root. He had been at the crease for 45 overs.