Slow left-arm spin from Maharaj, whose opening four overs cost only five runs. Just the one slip around the bat to Root, who races through for a single from the final ball of the over.

Image source, Reuters

Morkel has so far been unable to repeat that magical delivery that dismissed Alastair Cook last night and he begins after lunch with a fairly innocuous over that Westley calmly negotiates.

Jonathan Agnew
BBC cricket correspondent on TMS

I think England need to put their foot on the gas just a little.

Plenty of blue sky around the ground now though and there is sunshine as Root and Westley dance out onto the outfield full of intent, almost shadow boxing. What are we going to be in for this afternoon? Morne Morkel to continue from the Pavilion End.

That long range forecast my dad's friend paid for was not worth the money was it? "No more rain this month" he declared on 19 July.

Here's a stat for you, the half century stand between Westley and Root was only the second for England in the last 11 innings for the third wicket in the second innings.

Stephan Shemilt
BBC Sport at The Oval

Pretty heavy shower at The Oval, meaning that Mark Wood is getting wet as he runs around the outfield.

Ian Shepherd: Get 120-150 in the next session... tell Root and whoever to swing the bat. Lead by 450+.. get em in at tea time...gives us a day.

We'll see how many more Westley can add when play resumes in a few moments. England scored 79 in 28.4 overs in the morning and now lead by 331, how many more do you think they need? South Africa's highest score of the series to date is 361 in the first dig at Lord's.

Geoffrey Boycott
Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

Westley has played quite nicely, only some off side drives to balls that were not quite full enough did he mis-time a little. We know Joe Root os quality so he has played quite easily. After lunch we will get an idea about his captaincy and how confident he is. This is not Cook's team it is Root's. He has to tell his players what he wants and how many runs he thinks he needs. I think he has got to get them in before tea.

Image source, Getty Images

Former England captain Nasser Hussain makes an interesting assessment of Tom Westley on Sky Sports. He suggests Westley is very similar to John Crawley in his style and technique - as some others have - but he believes such a style can be found out in Australia where there's extra bounce on harder wickets. In nine Tests down under, Crawley averaged 28 - compared to a Test average of 38 in England. One to ponder.

Essex debutant Tom Westley reached fifty in style with a delightful clip off his pads to the boundary and he remains unbeaten on 50 from 126 balls with nine fours.

South Africa paceman Chris Morris went for 91 from 17 overs in the first innings and his six overs in this dig have already leaked 30, with Root hitting these two sweetly-timed boundaries.

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The England captain looked in command from the outset as usual and soon began to strike some fluent boundaries.

Question marks about the Durham left-hander continue though and he got a good one from Kagiso Rabada that surprised him and he could only fend it away to the gully, to depart for 48 from 78 balls.

England resumed 252 runs ahead at 74-1 and having been dropped on six yesterday, Keaton Jennings was looking to take advantage. He made a steady start and began to grow in confidence.

Thanks Mitch, he's away to the microwave again. Usually around this time my mind turns wistfully to the carvery near my lady's place in Selsey. Hopefully this time next week I'll be there trying to defy gravity by cramming everything on a flat plate, but in the meantime let's take a look back at the highlights of the morning session.

So, as the players take lunch and TMS prepare to speak to some former Surrey and England players, to mark The Oval's 100th men's Test, it's time to hand the live-text baton to Jamie Lillywhite for the afternoon.