A fine display of bowling throughout the afternoon and evening ensured England reduced South Africa to 267-7 by close on day one at the Wanderers.
Dean Elgar (46) and Hashim Amla (40) had threatened to post a daunting first day total when they put on 73 either side of lunch to take the hosts to 117-1.
However, South Africa then lost their next five wickets for 95 runs as England’s bowling and fielding squeezed South Africa in to a tight position before Charlie Morris and Kagiso Rabada steadied the ship.
As the teams headed to Johannesburg, England were in the driving seat with a 1-0 lead after victory in the first Test and South Africa transitioning from one captain to another after Amla stepped down and AB de Villiers took over.
England were able to name an unchanged side despite a few illnesses in the squad, whilst the hosts gave a debut to Hardus Viljoen in an all-seam attack.
Dane Vilas also returned as wicketkeeper after Quinton de Kock suffered a knee injury on Wednesday, the former arriving late for the game after only being drafted in on the first morning.
None of that rattled the South African openers though, Elgar and Stiaan van Zyl adding a solid 44 before a loose shot from the latter on 21 gave Ben Stokes the first English breakthrough.
Elgar and Amla built a decent platform either side of lunch for South Africa before a middle order collapse, instigated by Moeen Ali and Steven Finn, left them struggling on 212-6.
Ali found some first day turn and had Elgar caught behind in his second over for 46 before Finn produced a near unplayable delivery to find the edge of Amla’s bat, Jonny Bairstow doing the rest behind the stumps.
New captain de Villiers was his usual attacking self though, immediately going on the offensive against Ali, striking his first two balls to the boundaries.
Alastair Cook turned to Stokes to make the all-important breakthrough, a well-directed bouncer glancing de Villiers’ (36) glove to give Bairstow his fourth catch.
Finn, the pick of the England bowlers on day one, then used his own bouncer to dismiss Faf du Plessis (16), caught at deep square leg by Alex Hales.
Temba Bavuma, high on confidence after his first Test century in Cape Town, added a quickfire 23 before a mix up and some outstanding work from Bairstow saw him run out.
Broad, who had looked to be suffering from the bug that had gone through the England camp throughout the lead up to the Test, then removed Vilas with another short ball, caught at fine leg by Ali for 26.
Morris (26*) and Rabada (20*) were the eighth and ninth South Africans to reach double figures and had added 42 by the end of the day, the hosts up to 267-7 at the close of play.
After South Africa looked to be on course for a huge first innings total at 117-1, England bowling coach Ottis Gibson is ultimately happy with the work of his bowlers on day one.
“We struggled early on to find the right length but after that I think Finny bowled really well,” he said.
“As the day went on, we got better and better. We did tail off a little, but to lose the toss and have the opposition seven down at the end of the day is reward for our hard work.
"Finny has been outstanding ever since he came into the team in the Ashes. He is going from strength to strength.
"Ben Stokes has also improved over the last six months and Moeen continues to chip in.
"We're quite pleased."
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