Published: Jul 31, 2017, 05:40 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 31, 2017, 05:58 PM (IST)
The final day began with England needing 6 more wickets to win the third Test. South Africa were 52 for 4, but played well to survive the penultimate day amid a spectacular bowling. Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma had showed resistance and zeal to fight on the final morning, but Toby Roland-Jones‘ consecutive strikes pushed visitors on the back-foot, while Chris Morris perished at the stroke of lunch.
South Africa are 205 for 7 and face a monumental task to save the Test by batting out two entire sessions. Elgar, however, continued to hog limelight amid his team’s slide, with an unbeaten century — his 8th overall and second versus England.
Elgar and Bavuma commenced on a positive note on a bright, sunny morning with conditions mostly aiding batsmen. Elgar hooked and pulled to the fence. Bavuma moved on to the 30s with composure. They were comfortable in the middle before Roland-Jones’ twin strikes hurt them. Bavuma came to the pitch off the ball, which nipped in a little, and hit his front pad. There was no bat involved. Vernon Philander was out next ball: he offered no shot to an in-swinger and the ball hit off stump. Roland-Jones was on a hat-trick but unfortunately missed it. Morris edged the next ball, but as fate would have it, it fell short of gully.
All this happened when Elgar was 3 short of a deserving hundred. He slapped one coming down the track to Moeen Ali and reached the three-figure mark. It was a solid batting performance from the left-hander. He showed great application and determination to stay in the middle from the first ball. He took a few blows on the fourth day, prevented the edges from carrying; he eventually made the most of the reprieve earned from the last evening.
Nonetheless, England are on the doorstep of victory. With only 3 wickets remaining, South Africa have a herculean task to keep the English pacers at bay. Roland-Jones, with his accuracy and in-swingers, has got 8 wickets in the match (3 in this innings), and will like to run through the lower-order post lunch. With enough cracks on the turf, Moeen will also be effective. He dismissed Morris on the last ball before the break.
For now, South Africa are breathing courtesy an unbeaten 113-run knock by Elgar, who has been at the crease for more than 5 hours.
Brief scores:
England 353 & 313 for 8 decl. (Tom Westley 59, Joe Root 50, Jonny Bairstow 63; Keshav Maharaj 3 for 50, Chris Morris 2 for 70) lead South Africa 175 & 205 for 7 (Dean Elgar 113*, Temba Bavuma 32, Chris Morris 24; Toby Roland-Jones 3 for 35, Ben Stokes 2 for 50) by 287 runs.
Full Cricket Scorecard, England vs South Africa, 3rd Test
(Men)
