A flat footed Root nicked one to Quinton de Kock for 59 off 108 deliveries.
Nortje, now with his tail up, bowled one wide outside off to new batsman Sam Curran and the left hander took the bait by also edging to De Kock.
England had slumped from 258 for four to 269 for seven.
Nortje’s hat trick delivery, which was bowled at the start of his next over, went by harmlessly to keeper De Kock.
At the fall of Curran’s wicket the hosts would have been desperate to restrict the visitors to under 300 but England reached that mark when Jos Buttler nicked Beuran Hendricks wide of second slip for four with the penultimate ball before the break.
They after all, have to win this Test to deny England a second consecutive series win in South Africa.
As such they have to make the running and advance the game at a faster rate than you’d expect.
By the interval, Nortje boasted figures of four for 93 off 19 overs.
He may be a little expensive but it is the wickets column South Africa needed to populate with urgency in the morning session.
They need to wrap up the innings quickly after the resumption to give themselves a chance of putting England under pressure.
Anrich Nortje miss out on hat-trick as SA make inroads before lunch on day two
Image: REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
After struggling to break through early on day two of the fourth Test against England, South Africa made significant inroads with lunch approaching.
By the break, England had reached 300 for seven in their first innings.
Captain Joe Root and Ollie Pope looked relatively untroubled as England negotiated the first hour at nearly run-a-ball as the tourists looked set to bat themselves to a near impregnable position somewhere between lunch and tea.
Things however took a sudden turn.
After batting, seemingly without a care in the world, Pope dragged an Anrich Nortje delivery onto his stumps to open an end the hosts were desperate to probe a little further.
Pope departed for a sprightly 56 off 78 balls and he would have been gutted to lose his wicket in such benign fashion.
Nortje, who had earlier clocked a 150km/h delivery, ran in with renewed vigour from the Corlett Drive End and four overs later he snared an even bigger scalp.
England openers frustrate Proteas’ attack on day one of the rain affected final Test
A flat footed Root nicked one to Quinton de Kock for 59 off 108 deliveries.
Nortje, now with his tail up, bowled one wide outside off to new batsman Sam Curran and the left hander took the bait by also edging to De Kock.
England had slumped from 258 for four to 269 for seven.
Nortje’s hat trick delivery, which was bowled at the start of his next over, went by harmlessly to keeper De Kock.
At the fall of Curran’s wicket the hosts would have been desperate to restrict the visitors to under 300 but England reached that mark when Jos Buttler nicked Beuran Hendricks wide of second slip for four with the penultimate ball before the break.
They after all, have to win this Test to deny England a second consecutive series win in South Africa.
As such they have to make the running and advance the game at a faster rate than you’d expect.
By the interval, Nortje boasted figures of four for 93 off 19 overs.
He may be a little expensive but it is the wickets column South Africa needed to populate with urgency in the morning session.
They need to wrap up the innings quickly after the resumption to give themselves a chance of putting England under pressure.
Proteas belatedly find their mojo as England wilt late on day one
Faf du Plessis loses toss yet again‚ Beuran Hendricks handed Test debut at Wanderers
SA crash to an embarrassing innings and 53 runs defeat at the hands of England
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Related articles
Latest Videos