Advertisement

Dominant England stand on cusp of series victory against South Africa

Reuters
Reuters

Another dominant day for England leaves them on the cusp of another dominant win. A different kind of win to the 189 runs at Cape Town and the innings success at Port Elizabeth. This one would complete a rather gluttonous set.

South Africa need to either chase 466 to square the series or bat the entirety of the next two days to avoid defeat and settle for a 2-1 defeat. Whichever way you spin this, it makes dire reading for the hosts. The tourists have nabbed all 70 available wickets so far and you will struggle to find a soul around these parts who does not believe they will have 80 by this time tomorrow.

After a day like this – and the days like these over the past fortnight – you find yourself asking the same question. When did England get… good? Effectively shutting down South Africa’s first innings and then able to profit off their first innings 400 with a second effort that at times felt more fun than work.

You know England are approaching somewhere close to being where they once were because they’re getting a lot of the same criticism.

They should have enforced the follow-on, even though they were right not to off the back of doing so in the previous Test and earning the right to bat on to preserve the likes of Wood, who needs as much time off his ankles as he can get.

That Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley should have pushed the score along at a more productive rate, even though the point of the exercise stretches beyond runs: to ensure the bowlers are ragged for the assault of the middle order and plough more overs into the pitch. Their 20.4 overs together might have only produced 56 runs, but witnessing the part-time seam of Pieter Malan introduced after 30 overs and deliveries starting to scuttle along the ground are both ticks against their respective names.

Mark Wood holds the ball aloft after taking five wickets (Getty Images)
Mark Wood holds the ball aloft after taking five wickets (Getty Images)

The day was not as crisp as the current match situation makes it look. Though England achieved their objective of finishing off South Africa’s first innings in the morning, with the hosts resuming on 88 for six, they were still given the runaround by Quentin de Kock.

What the left-hander lacks in press conference chatter he more than makes up for where it matters. The manner in which he compiled his 76, heck, all of four of the fifties he’s brought up in each match of the series, has been through the kind of counter-punching that has put England under consistent pressure in the field.

Unfortunately for South Africa, only one of those milestones – a 95 at Centurion – has come in victory. Nevertheless, his 341 runs with one innings still to go will undoubtedly see him finish as the series’ leading run-scorer.

Together with Dwayne Pretorious’ 37, a 79-run partnership was struck for the eighth wicket. While they did reignite the prospect of passing the follow-on target of 200, which had dwindled when Chris Woakes removed Vernon Philander with the fifth ball of the day – caught off a leading edge to Stuart Broad at mid on – the Durham combination of Ben Stokes and Mark Wood skewered those hopes completely.

Joe Root produced a composed knock to pass the 50-mark (AP)
Joe Root produced a composed knock to pass the 50-mark (AP)

Stokes squared up the right-handed Pretorious for a well-taken catch at gully by Zak Crawley before Wood bowled de Kock and had Dane Patterson caught behind trying to hit the ball out of The Wanderers. It completed the innings on 183 and a second five-wicket haul for Wood, who came into the day with the dismissals of Malan, Temba Bavuma and Anrich Nortje in his back pocket. Figures of five for 46 now sit alongside his maiden haul of five for 41, which he only picked up last February.

Certainly, the evening session was far from a slick operation. Though to be fair, third innings generally aren’t. England took tea on 86 for two – the lead at 269 – and came out swinging. By CricViz’s calculations, they set about attacking 46 per cent of deliveries faced compared to their subdued 17 per cent before the intermission.

Perhaps the only one at a shot of personal glory before the selfless swishing came into effect was Sibley returning to the crease with 39. The opportunity was there to do as he did when he scored his maiden Test hundred at Cape Town: bat on and bat long while others lose their inhibitions around him. Alas, a slack misjudgement saw him push Beuran Hendricks tamely into the hands of Malan at bat-pad.

From then on, the batting effort resembled Takeshi’s Castle: contestants flailing about in different directions, some coming up against obstacles immediately, others making fools of themselves later on. Ramp shots were attempted and failed. Full-blooded drives missed.

The cameos, like all overseas flings, were fleeting but fun: Stokes’ 28 and Sam Curran’s dashing 35 – a welcome haul after his golden duck in the first innings – bringing entertainment to a crowd who had waned as the game progressed at a leisurely pace.

Amid that all was Joe Root. The England captain, proper among the nonsense, held one end to account to bring up a 48th fifty from 89 balls. The five fours that helped him to the milestone were supplemented with a six heaved high into the second tier of the stand at midwicket. His dismissal, which brought the day to a close, was the most substantial of the crumbs of comfort for the Proteas.

Jos Buttler’s difficult run at the crease continues (Getty)
Jos Buttler’s difficult run at the crease continues (Getty)

Ollie Pope’s attempt to cut a ball on off-stump gave de Kock his 200th Test catch. It also gave Nortje a second wicket to reward his 11 overs that were taken for 61. But Faf du Plessis, and in turn Beuran Hendricks, gave the last cheer to the hosts when the former’s stunning one-handed diving catch dismissed Root for 58 and gave the latter his maiden five-wicket haul (five for 64).

The hosts, though, are the ones in firm control of the game. The only blemishes on an otherwise immaculate day were two low scores for Joe Denly and Jos Buttler. Both scored eight but finish the series with very different conclusions to be drawn.

Denly’s 210 runs at 30 – a microcosm of his career numbers of 780 at 30 – can be viewed, across the board, as a job reasonably done as the team’s number three. He was at least able to register one solitary 50 and today’s dismissal, bowled off his inside edge, meant it was his first visit to the crease which ended for less than 20.

Buttler’s 16.42 average from seven innings speaks about more than poor form. The last 12 months have been particularly gruelling for the 29-year old. He looks physically and mentally drained.

For Denly, it is important to persist with him through to Sri Lanka and into the English summer. For Buttler, who is due to spend just a week at home before returning to South Africa for the Twenty20 series, it is clear he needs rest, to spend quality time with his young family and rediscover his love for the game.