​England, and skipper Andrew Strauss, very nearly caught a cold in Centurion.

Putting the opposition in to bat after winning the toss, as Strauss did last Wednesday, is almost always a gamble.

Firstly it depends on the bowlers to bowl well and exploit whatever conditions are deemed to be favourable.

Secondly, there is always the prospect of having to chase – or survive – in the last innings on a five-day old pitch.

England should have done that quite comfortably on Sunday with Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott in control on the final day.

The calamitous run-out that saw Pietersen dismissed when a century was there for the taking gave the South Africans a glimpse of an opening which they went desperately close to seizing.

Had England gone 1-0 down it would have been hard, hard going for the rest of the series against a home side with their tails up.

So England head for the second Test on Boxing Day with one or two issues.

The first appears relatively straightforward – all-rounder Luke Wright coming in for Ian Bell, who failed twice at No.6.

Wright can do no worse with the bat and also offers another bowling option, which cannot go amiss in the current England line-up.

The other is a little trickier. Alastair Cook is having something of a thin time at the top of the order but the chances are that he will be given another opportunity to open alongside Strauss.

If Cook can find his timing then England have a top four which has the potential to dominate the rest of the series with Strauss, Pietersen and Trott already among the runs.

They are backed by Paul Collingwood, who provides the fight at No.5 that every side needs in its batting line-up.

The series always looked like being one full of intrigue between two evenly-matched sides, and the opener has not dissuaded me from believing that.