George Garton bowled a fiery opening spell for England Lions and claimed the prized wicket of South Africa's experienced opener Dean Elgar on a severely curtailed opening day at New Road.
The Sussex paceman troubled all the batsmen and hit the deck hard after Lions skipper Gary Ballance put the Proteas into bat on winning the toss.
Garton, who played in five Royal London One-Day Cup matches for his county earlier this summer, was rewarded for his efforts when Elgar (5) nibbled at a ball that left him and was caught behind by Sam Billings.
But only 20 overs split into four spells were possible because of bad light and rain interruptions were possible.
Tom Helm shared the new ball with Garton and he and Liam Plunkett also bowled some testing deliveries in the cloudy conditions.
South African opener Heino Kuhn was unbeaten on 30 and he is looking to continue the prolific form shown when playing for South Africa 'A' during their tour of England.
Kuhn has already scored 81 not out and 105 against the Lions in addition to an unbeaten double century against Hampshire.
Before the start of play Lions spinner Mason Crane received his cap from ECB lead spin bowling coach Peter Such.
Crane was making his debut at Lions level after becoming an instant hero with supporters in Cardiff when claiming the wicket of AB de Villiers on his second England T20 appearance at the weekend.
The tourists captain, Faf du Plessis, had reason to celebrate after his wife Imari gave birth to their first child in South Africa.
Du Plessis flew back home after the ICC Champions Trophy for the birth and is now expected to return to England for the first Test although nothing has been officially confirmed.
Du Plessis confirmed the arrival of his baby in a tweet which reads: "Our biggest blessing yet came in a small package. So very grateful."
