Nasser Hussain full of praise for 'excellent' England seam attack

Nasser Hussain was effusive in his praise of England's seam attack after they reduced South Africa to 137-4 at the end of day two of the first Test in Durban.

In the absence of the injured James Anderson, Stuart Broad led the attack and set a fine example, taking the early wickets of Stiaan van Zyl and Hashim Amla before returning to dismiss AB de Villiers later in the day.

He was backed up well by Chris Woakes, Steven Finn and Ben Stokes while off-spinner Moeen Ali also chipped in with a wicket.

"England's bowling in those first 19 overs before tea, without Anderson, was magnificent," said Hussain.

"Broad, in particular, set the tone beautifully. Outstanding bowling throughout that session, backed up by Woakes, and then Finn. If anything this pitch is getting dryer and dryer, and the seam is starting to grip into the surface.

"Amla could have been out three times - there was the drop, the nick where we wondered if it was or wasn't, and then the genuine nick. He could have been 7-3 in that innings, and that's Amla, a very fine player.

"So it was exceptional stuff from England. They never gave him anything to feed on, off his pads. They stuck it in the corridor of uncertainty time and time again."

The discipline shown by the England attack was the continuation on a theme after a year in which they have rarely let captain Alastair Cook down, according to Hussain.

"I can't remember the last time England's seamers have let their skipper down in any way, even if you go all the way back to the tour of the Caribbean earlier this year, they bowled brilliantly," he added.

"In the summer they bowled brilliantly, in the UAE they bowled brilliantly, and again today. They're a very reliable seam attack, and they were backed up nicely by Moeen Ali, who took an important wicket.

"They have worked hard, and with only a little bit in the pitch, they've been excellent."

Broad was the star though today and the way he quickly adapted his bowling to the conditions particularly impressed Hussain.

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"This was intelligent bowling, not a lot of lateral movement so he had to work something out for himself and that was a steady line outside off stump, rolling his fingers down the side of the ball," he explained.

"He was all over Amla, which is what you want. We've got the list of people he's got out in his career and he gets good players out and Amla is another one. He's been absolutely brilliant, what a spell from him."