Two overs later Moeen Ali got his second wicket as he dismissed Jean-Paul Duminy and that brought Temba Bavuma to the crease.
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Elgar had advanced down the track before making good contact as he looked to hit one through mid-wicket, but Taylor showed superb anticipation to throw himself in the way of the ball before it nestled in between his thighs as he claimed a quite freaky catch.
The South African No. 3 stroked 18 fours, many of them trademark and textbook cover drives, to give the Proteas a solid platform in a game where victory would restore some lost pride after losing a series at home to England for only the second time since readmission to worldwide cricket in the early 1990s.
Jimmy Cook, who was in the crowd on Friday, had to wait until the age of 39 to make his official Test debut after being a prolific scorer for South Africa in 19 unofficial “rebel” Tests during South Africa s political isolation, including a hundred on debut against an English team in 1981/82.
It was a contrast to his father Jimmy’s start in 1992, when he became the first batsman to be dismissed by the opening ball of a Test on debut. “I’m really looking forward to this week to see how people respond to that”. “But you can rest assured that I’ll be concentrating as much on scoring a hundred as setting up the game for England to win”, he said.
“From where I was standing it did look a bit freakish where he plucked it from, but the reaction from him was brilliant”.
“I thought I’ve waited so long for this chance that if I have to stay in the 90s for another hour then I can wait”, said Cook, who shared a special hug with his dad at the end of the day between interviews. Dean Elgar whipped his fourth delivery to the leg side, where James Taylor pulled off another wonder catch, this time doing everything he could to keep the ball up until it nestled between his legs.
Dane Vilas, who substituted in last week’s third Test defeat in Johannesburg, was released to play for his provincial team after De Kock passed a fitness test.
“Guys will also be desperate to shore up their spots so that when the selection meeting happens for the Sri Lanka Test series, they are there”.
Both men were dropped – Cook on 47 and Amla on five – but they went on to help build what could be an imposing first innings score.
The way Cook and Amla applied themselves during the first two sessions suggests the pitch is flawless for batting.
England, on the other hand, made the only change of replacing the injured Steven Finn with Woakes.
But it might have been even worse for England after they went in for tea at 224 for one, and with most of their bowling attack struggling for rhythm.
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In came Kyle Abbott, Dane Piedt, JP Duminy, Quinton de Kock and Stephen Cook on debut.
