Quinton de Kock has played seven Tests for South Africa

Third Test: South Africa v England Venue: Wanderers, Johannesburg Dates: 14-18 January Time: 08:30 GMT Coverage: Ball-by-ball Test Match Special commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, BBC Radio 4 LW, online, tablets, mobiles, BBC Sport app & BBC iPlayer Radio app. Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & mobile devices

An injury to Quinton de Kock on the eve of the third Test against England saw South Africa start the match without replacement Dane Vilas at the ground.

De Kock, 23, slipped and twisted his knee while at home on Wednesday.

Vilas was set to play a domestic match in Port Elizabeth, but flew to Johannesburg on Thursday morning.

Cricinfo reported Vilas boarded a 100-minute flight at 08:40, with the 30-year-old arriving at the Wanderers 45 minutes after play began.

South Africa won the toss and batted first, meaning Vilas' absence was not felt.

However, De Kock's injury denied the Proteas, who are 1-0 down in the four-match series, the opportunity to rejig their batting line-up.

De Kock may have been promoted to open the batting, allowing batsman JP Duminy to bat at number seven and bowl some off-spin.

Without De Kock, Stiaan van Zyl continues to open, Vilas will bat at seven and the home side have only the part-time spin of Dean Elgar to complement a four-man pace attack.

Follow live text and Test Match Special commentary from the third Test.

Analysis

Neil Manthorp on Test Match Special

"De Kock's injury happened yesterday afternoon. He was hoping to run it off but he woke up just after midnight and the knee was very swollen, so he didn't inform team management until this morning."

It's happened before...

When Pakistan played South Africa in Johannesburg in 1995, injuries to pace bowlers resulted in a call-up for Aamir Nazir. Nazir was still on a 14-hour flight when he was named in the team, his plane landed an hour before play and he took the field 35 minutes late. When he bowled, he broke down with cramp.

In December 2007, Western Australia batsman Luke Pomersbach was attending the Australia v New Zealand T20 international as a spectator. When Brad Hodge injured his back bending over to pull on his trousers, Pomersbach was summoned to make his international debut and made 15 from seven balls in an Australia win.

In a Lord's Test against New Zealand in 1986, England wicketkeeper Bruce French was injured whilst batting, so Bob Taylor, who had retired two years earlier, emerged from a hospitality marquee to take over.

'My wife played when eight months' pregnant'

News of South Africa's predicament led to a discussion on BBC Sport's live text commentary of occasions when you have been 'caught on the hop'.

Mark Horner, via email: "Back in the early nineties, our team was playing away at a new club to the league. Two cars got lost and we only had six players at the due time. The opposition refused to wait and were about to claim the win.

"My wife, who had come as a spectator and who was eight months' pregnant, waddled onto the field and said 'play'. At that time, she was the only woman registered to play in that league and it meant we had the minimum seven players. The opposition were stunned... and so were we.

"The game started... our other players turned up half an hour into the game... and we won! Wife was the toast of the club."

Andrew and Will Odell, via email: "I was playing in the same team as my brother. The opposition batted first and then it was our turn to bat. I was opening the innings and my brother was number 11.

"Obviously he thought he had plenty of time to go to the toilet. However, when he returned to the match he was not only horrified that we were all out for 11, but also that he had been timed out."