England coach Duncan Fletcher criticised the pitch and his batsmen after the side slumped to their worst first innings total in four years on the first day of the second Test against South Africa.

England, put into bat after losing the toss, were dismissed for 139, their lowest score since a 134 against the West Indies at Lord's in 2000.

South Africa were 70 for three in reply at close of play on Sunday.

"It's been a difficult pitch to bat on," Fletcher told a news conference.

"It was very slow and there were variations in pace and bounce. But it was a 250 wicket and I do believe we have the talent to work on one grafting partnership that would have got us up to that score.

"There are wickets we have to learn from, and sometimes two-and-a-half runs an over is good going even if we're used to going at three-and-a-half or four runs to the over."

Fletcher said England would have put South Africa in had captain Michael Vaughan won the toss.

"Who knows what will happen as it (the pitch) hardens and dries," he said.

"South Africa were fortunate to win the toss and take advantage of the situation."

The balance of England's attack could be affected if left arm spinner Ashley Giles fails to recover from a back spasm suffered as he attempted to avoid a bouncer from fast bowler Dale Steyn.

"He's struggling, and we don't know whether he will be able to bowl," Fletcher said.

"He had this problem in Chittagong (in October last year), and he was fine when he woke up the next morning."

South African fast bowler Shaun Pollock said the hosts had learned the lessons from the first Test, which England won by seven wickets.

"We assessed where we had gone wrong at St George's Park, came up with new game plans and showed some flair today," said Pollock, who took four wickets for 32 runs.

"We decided we needed to do a much more professional job, and we bowled much better as a Test unit."

Unlike Fletcher, the former South Africa captain had few problems with the pitch.

"I'd say it will get better for batting over the next day or two," he said.

"There wasn't much sideways movement in evidence, and although one or two balls stayed down I'd say the bounce was pretty consistent."