Stuart Broad’s spell from hell reduces South Africa to 71/8 at tea on Day 3 of 3rd Test
Stuart Broad's spell from hell reduces South Africa to 71/8 at tea on Day 3 of 3rd Test
South Africa were reduced to paltry score of 71 for the loss of eight wickets after 29 overs against England at tea on Day Three of the third Test at Johannesburg on Saturday. Stuart Broad was the wrecker-in-chief of the Proteas, running through the South African top-order with terrific figures of 5 for 14 from 10 overs, perhaps his best spell since the destructive 8 for 15 that bowled Australia out for 60 at Trent Bridge in the Ashes 2015. England are staring at an easy victory at this point, with the Proteas having gained meagre 57-run lead in their nightmarish session, and their innings is expected to end in no time. Faf du Plessis was batting on a score of 11, with Hardus Viljoen on 2 at the other end for company. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: South Africa vs England 2015-16, 3rd Test at Johannesburg, Day 3
South Africa went into lunch on a score of 16 for no loss, with openers Dean Elgar and Stiaan van Zyl suffering a few nastly blows from a lethal spell of bowling by James Anderson and Broad in the last few overs of the first session. The destruction began after Elgar edged a Broad delivery to Bairstow, with South Africa losing their first wicket with 23 on board. The nightmare had only just begun for the hosts, as the hosts had no idea of the nightmare that was in store for them in the rest of the session! LIVE CRICKET UPDATES: South Africa vs England 2015-16, 3rd Test at Johannesburg, Day 3
Elgar’s dismissal was quickly followed by that of van Zyl’s, who edged the delivery to Ben Stokes at in the slips. Skipper AB de Villiers (0) was the next to depart, which was perhaps the rudest shock for the hosts and triggered the spectacular collapse! Hashim Amla needed to stick to the crease for some time, but a brilliant catch by James Taylor at short-leg in a fraction of a second (the first of the two brilliant catches that he took at that position) saw him heading back to the pavilion for just 5.
Only four batsmen have scored in double-digits so far in the innings as South Africa risk getting dismissed for their lowest total since readmission, which is currently 79 that they were skittled out for at Nagpur barely a couple of months ago!
Brief scores:
South Africa 313 (Dean Elgar 46, Hashim Amla 40, AB de Villiers 36; Ben Stokes 3 for 53, Steven Finn 2 for 50, Ben Stokes 2 for 53) and 71 for 8 (Kagiso Rabada 16; Stuart Broad 5 for 14, Ben Stokes 2 for 24) lead England 323 (Alastair Cook 18, Nick Compton 26, Joe Root 110, Ben Stokes 58, Jonny Bairstow 45; Kagiso Rabada 5 for 78, Morne Morkel 3 for 76) by 61 runs.
(Amit Banerjee, a reporter at CricketCountry, takes keen interest in photography, travelling, technology, automobiles, food and, of course, cricket. He can be followed on Twitter via his handle @akb287)