England set South Africa record 466 to win as Vernon Philander's farewell Test turns sour
On a lively Sunday at the Wanderers, England cricket marched towards victory by recording a big first innings lead, then swelling it to a target of 466 for South Africa.
It was not a bad day for all South Africans – Beuran Hendricks completed a five-wicket haul on debut and they did manage to bowl England out in two sessions. But in four parts, it was a very bad day for Vernon Philander. He began it by, for his third innings in a row, failing to make it through the first over of the day. It was a third hapless shot too, spooning Chris Woakes to mid-off.
After lunch, the ICC announced that he had received an (utterly irrelevant) demerit point for the latest episode – Saturday’s send-off – in his feud with Jos Buttler. At about the same time, he was limping off the field having bowled just nine balls in his final Test innings as a bowler. A scan confirmed a grade two hamstring tear, but Philander is expected to return to the crease for a final bat.
When he pulled up lame, South Africa were left with a four-man seam attack with just 26 Test wickets between them as England batted for a second time, their first-innings lead 217.
The time it took to bowl South Africa out on the third morning – two hours after Philander’s latest soft dismissal – meant there was no question in the modern captain’s mind that there was no need for the follow on. In the second of back-to-back Tests, with a special fast bowler of rare fragility, eight sessions remaining in the match and no significant weather worries, there was no good reason to take a risk.
The attack England were facing meant that, even with a ball or two misbehaving, there were no real worries as they forged. South Africa bowled much better than they did in the first innings, but the damage was long since done. It was classic third-innings-with-a-big-lead fare – England took some time building a foundation through Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley, then the middle and lower order took risks around Joe Root.
By the end, this will likely be considered a fine tour for England. But there are still questions about two members of the top seven as minds turn to upcoming challenges.
Will Joe Denly, who struggled in this game despite coming in after two opening stands of more than 50, progress from being a player who averages 30? That is his exact average on this tour, and his exact career average. Here, he played on for eight, just the fourth-single figure score of his 26-innings Test career. But in this series, he has reached 25 on six occasions but never made it past 50.
Denly deserves to go to Sri Lanka, but will face competition for his spot from Jonny Bairstow and Keaton Jennings. Longer term, Rory Burns will return.
Jos Buttler also made eight, and it is probably best that he does not go to Sri Lanka. Things have just not worked out over the last six months in Tests, and he looks like he needs a rest. England should not compromise one of their great talents in one format in the hope of realising potential in another.
Here was another laboured dismissal – caught behind off Anrich Nortje – that tells us very little we did not know. Wonderful as the idea may be, Buttler is yet to fully impose his game on Test cricket, especially when wicketkeeper. When the ball does a little, as it has all series, he struggles. At least Philander wasn’t out there to give him another send-off.
Ben Stokes, Sam Curran and Mark Wood did what Buttler had hoped to, and fizzed their way to lively cameos around strike-donator Root, who made his second fifty of the match. When they had all gone, Root even whacked a six of his own before being last man out – and in spectacular fashion. Faf du Plessis leaped to his right at gully to complete Hendricks’ five-fer.
Speaking of fine catching, in England’s innings, Quinton de Kock became the fastest to 200 Test dismissals in the field, a fine accolade. He was his team’s only real hope with the bat too. Having played beautifully on Saturday, he reined himself in and accumulated with Dwaine Pretorius.
They shared a fine 77 before Stokes had Pretorius caught at gully, which saw Wood return. He bowled De Kock, then dismissed Dane Paterson to pick up a hard-earned five-wicket haul. As England push for victory on Monday, Wood will be the key man.
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