Cape Town - Wiaan Mulder made a positive start to his tour of England by taking three wickets as South Africa 'A' ended day one of their warm-up match against Sussex with honours just about even in Arundel on Wednesday.
The tourists, who won their opening four-day warm-up game against Hampshire at the weekend, were on top for most of the day bar one big partnership that had swayed the game in the home side's favour.
Sussex won the toss and opted to bat first at the Arundel Castle Cricket Club Ground.
Openers Will Beer (27) and Harry Finch (48) provided them with a solid start of 83 for the first wicket, but Mulder started a slide that saw four wickets fall for seven runs.
The young all-rounder took the two of them and went on to finish with three for 46 in 13 overs, while the other two men fell to fast bowler Duanne Olivier (2/66).
That left the hosts on 90 for four, but Delray Rawlins top-scored with 96 (191 balls, 12 four, 1 six) and shared a 172-run fifth-wicket stand with debutant Jonty Jenner, who made 68 (114 balls, 9 fours), to seize the advantage back from the South Africans.
Three wickets fell for 28 runs late in the day, including one each for Dane Piedt (1/71) and Junior Dala (1/53) as the visitors hit back to end strongly.
The match is their final chance to gain some much-needed practise before they play the England Lions in a one-off, four-day encounter, starting on Wednesday, June 21.