England on top despite South Africa's moments of brilliance
Bairstow composed a crucial innings for England © Getty
The story of the match so far has been how South Africa have created moments but not long enough to create a big dent. On the fourth morning, when England were all set to take the game away starting with a lead of 216, South Africa made their strongest statements of the game.
The session saw England lose seven wickets for 63 runs. But that was soon quelled in the second session, where England led by Jonny Bairstow first stretched the lead to 330 before prising out three important wickets in the second innings.
Things could have been even better for South Africa had they not shot themselves in the foot with yet another dropped catch in the first session. Riding high on the momentum of quick wickets, South Africa could have had Bairstow as well for just 7, with England's lead just 254 when Vernon Philander dropped an absolute dolly off the bowling of Keshav Maharaj.
Bairstow rubbed salt into the wounds by tonking Maharaj for three boundaries in his next over. By the end of the innings, it turned out to be a reprieve that could have cost South Africa a lot more. Bairstow made most of the reprieve in the second session as well, along with a sprightly Mark Wood for company and added 45 runs for the ninth wicket.
England's lead swelled past 300 as Bairstow went on to register an important fifty before becoming the final wicket to fall, with England's lead at 330. But that they got to a stage where they had to fight back to assert their dominance was because South Africa staged a spectacular comeback in the first session.
Before and immediately after the reprieve to Bairstow, South Africa stemmed England's momentum by picking quick wickets. Maharaj, exploiting the rough outside off, castled Moeen Ali for 7 while Kagiso Rabada's high full toss got the better of Liam Dawson in the next over. Maharaj, for a short while, quelled the impact of the shelled chance by getting Stuart Broad for a first ball duck as well.
The session was running on high octane with the wicket splurge as both sides punched and counter-punched to stave the other one off. The biggest agent of destruction was perhaps the pitch itself.
England started the day with an overall lead of 214. The pitch showed characteristics of uneven bounce quite early with more than a few deliveries from the pacers shooting through low. Luckily for the batsmen, these were deliveries that were not in line with the stumps. But there was enough indication that as the match got older, there would be more such deliveries that would kick off from the danger area, which would have left the England bowlers happier. The batsmen didn't mind it too given that they were starting the day from a position of dominance. The nature of the pitch also raised the value of runs. It didn't matter how they came as long as they kept coming. A few loose deliveries early were put away by Alastair Cook but questions were raised about England's run-rate of just two an over in the first half an hour. That England were targetting a declaration after some quick runs was an open secret.
Cook finally fell for 69, after a job well done. His knock ensured that there was no opening for South Africa to try and get back into the game, or so it seemed then. England were now on the lookout for quicker runs and Cook's 69 of 192 wasn't the tempo they were after. In came Joe Root, dancing down the track first ball against Morne Morkel, spelling out intent right from the outset. But the cat and mouse game got trickier with Morkel producing a peach to get rid of Ballance as well in his next over.
Suddenly, South Africa had a glimmer of hope. It grew brighter when Keshav Maharaj won an interesting tussle with Root, getting one to turn sharply, being swept for boundary and finally castling him with a quick darter that didn't turn. Suddenly, Cook's vigil didn't seem all that bad for England. Since his dismissal, South Africa roared back into the game with a flurry of wickets only to once again look back and rue their missed chances more than celebrating their moments of success.
Chasing 331, South Africa lost both their openers - Heino Kuhn and Dean Elgar - in quick succession with just 12 on the board. Bairstow continued to be brilliant on the field, taking a sharp catch to get rid of the former while the South African skipper was dismissed by Ali (caught and bowled) for the second time in the match. And at the stroke of Tea, JP Duminy pulled a short ball straight to square leg. England had once again managed to keep South Africa at bay despite their brilliance in the first session.
Brief Scores: England 458 and 233 (Alastair Cook 69, Jonny Bairstow 51; Morne Morkel 3/64, Keshav Maharaj 4/85, Kagiso Rabada 3/50) lead South Africa 361 and 25/3 (Moeen Ali 1/0, Mark Wood 1/3) by 306 runs.
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The story of the match so far has been how South Africa have created moments but not long enough to create a big dent. On the fourth morning, when England were all set to take the game away starting with a lead of 216, South Africa made their strongest statements of the game.
The session saw England lose seven wickets for 63 runs. But that was soon quelled in the second session, where England led by Jonny Bairstow first stretched the lead to 330 before prising out three important wickets in the second innings.
Things could have been even better for South Africa had they not shot themselves in the foot with yet another dropped catch in the first session. Riding high on the momentum of quick wickets, South Africa could have had Bairstow as well for just 7, with England's lead just 254 when Vernon Philander dropped an absolute dolly off the bowling of Keshav Maharaj.
Bairstow rubbed salt into the wounds by tonking Maharaj for three boundaries in his next over. By the end of the innings, it turned out to be a reprieve that could have cost South Africa a lot more. Bairstow made most of the reprieve in the second session as well, along with a sprightly Mark Wood for company and added 45 runs for the ninth wicket.
England's lead swelled past 300 as Bairstow went on to register an important fifty before becoming the final wicket to fall, with England's lead at 330. But that they got to a stage where they had to fight back to assert their dominance was because South Africa staged a spectacular comeback in the first session.
Before and immediately after the reprieve to Bairstow, South Africa stemmed England's momentum by picking quick wickets. Maharaj, exploiting the rough outside off, castled Moeen Ali for 7 while Kagiso Rabada's high full toss got the better of Liam Dawson in the next over. Maharaj, for a short while, quelled the impact of the shelled chance by getting Stuart Broad for a first ball duck as well.
The session was running on high octane with the wicket splurge as both sides punched and counter-punched to stave the other one off. The biggest agent of destruction was perhaps the pitch itself.
England started the day with an overall lead of 214. The pitch showed characteristics of uneven bounce quite early with more than a few deliveries from the pacers shooting through low. Luckily for the batsmen, these were deliveries that were not in line with the stumps. But there was enough indication that as the match got older, there would be more such deliveries that would kick off from the danger area, which would have left the England bowlers happier. The batsmen didn't mind it too given that they were starting the day from a position of dominance. The nature of the pitch also raised the value of runs. It didn't matter how they came as long as they kept coming. A few loose deliveries early were put away by Alastair Cook but questions were raised about England's run-rate of just two an over in the first half an hour. That England were targetting a declaration after some quick runs was an open secret.
Cook finally fell for 69, after a job well done. His knock ensured that there was no opening for South Africa to try and get back into the game, or so it seemed then. England were now on the lookout for quicker runs and Cook's 69 of 192 wasn't the tempo they were after. In came Joe Root, dancing down the track first ball against Morne Morkel, spelling out intent right from the outset. But the cat and mouse game got trickier with Morkel producing a peach to get rid of Ballance as well in his next over.
Suddenly, South Africa had a glimmer of hope. It grew brighter when Keshav Maharaj won an interesting tussle with Root, getting one to turn sharply, being swept for boundary and finally castling him with a quick darter that didn't turn. Suddenly, Cook's vigil didn't seem all that bad for England. Since his dismissal, South Africa roared back into the game with a flurry of wickets only to once again look back and rue their missed chances more than celebrating their moments of success.
Chasing 331, South Africa lost both their openers - Heino Kuhn and Dean Elgar - in quick succession with just 12 on the board. Bairstow continued to be brilliant on the field, taking a sharp catch to get rid of the former while the South African skipper was dismissed by Ali (caught and bowled) for the second time in the match. And at the stroke of Tea, JP Duminy pulled a short ball straight to square leg. England had once again managed to keep South Africa at bay despite their brilliance in the first session.
Brief Scores: England 458 and 233 (Alastair Cook 69, Jonny Bairstow 51; Morne Morkel 3/64, Keshav Maharaj 4/85, Kagiso Rabada 3/50) lead South Africa 361 and 25/3 (Moeen Ali 1/0, Mark Wood 1/3) by 306 runs.
follow more on udeshkashyap.blogspot.com
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