Joe Root said he was looking forward to a tougher challenge as captain after England’s facile victory at Lord’s and he is certainly getting one in the second Investec Test at Trent Bridge. On a bowler’s day on which 15 wickets fell under overcast skies and with the floodlights on throughout, England’s batting was found wanting against a focused South African bowling unit that showed just how carelessly the hosts performed with the ball on the opening day.
England’s decision at the start of the series to jettison a specialist batsman in favour of an allrounder predictably came a cropper as the team slid from 143 for three to 205 all out, conceding what is likely to prove a decisive deficit of 130 on a sporting pitch ill-suited to England’s attacking philosophy with the bat.
“England’s decision to jettison a specialist batsman in favour of an allrounder came a cropper as they slid from 143 for three to 205 all out
With Dean Elgar dropping anchor, South Africa had by stumps taken their advantage beyond 200 for the loss of one wicket, and it is hard to see England’s unbeaten record at Trent Bridge since 2007 surviving. That said, the series would be beautifully poised at 1-1 going to the Oval, though England would surely have to reshape their side were that the case.
With Gary Ballance and Ben Stokes both having made fewer than 180 runs in their last 10 innings, and Keaton Jennings still cutting his teeth, the top six is leaning too heavily on its three most senior men.
As at Lord’s, Root himself led the way with the bat, being again the only man in the top five to reach 50, although Jonny Bairstow — who earlier in the day took his 100th catch for England — weighed in with 45. Root, in fact, played even better in the early stages than he had in the first Test, where he took time to find his poise and benefited from slack fielding.
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This time he flew out of the traps despite the early loss of both openers, piling the pressure back on the bowlers with a string of boundaries, notably three in an over from Vernon Philander, two of them gems.
In racing to a half-century off only 40 balls, his third-fastest in Tests, he did not let the back-up seamers settle and forced Faf du Plessis to withdraw some close catchers. Du Plessis, whose mere presence after missing Lord’s has galvanized his troops, twice posted two short third men in an effort to cut off Root’s steers in that region, but the England captain’s silky touch still located the gaps.
Root eventually fell for 78 off 76 balls in typical fashion, well caught by the diving Quinton de Kock attempting another drive, but any feelings of frustration at his failure to convert yet another 50 into a century had to be tempered with the thought that without him England would have been totally sunk.
Once he departed, ending a 57-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Bairstow, South Africa’s bowlers controlled the next two hours.
Even though James Anderson quickly wrapped up the remnants of the South African innings in the morning, in overall terms the trio of Philander, Morne Morkel and Chris Morris gave their English counterparts a lesson in length and line. The disparity would have been even greater had Kagiso Rabada been available. His stand-in Duanne Olivier was erratic.
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Morris has been a vital addition to the side, adding ballast to the batting and aggression with the ball, Du Plessis telling him to simply bowl as fast as he could.
By comparison, there was a lack of zip about England’s bowling: Mark Wood, supposedly their sharpest weapon, has looked down on rhythm and pace, and still has only one wicket in the series. England cannot afford to be outgunned in such fashion when they get to Australia.
Philander did not have to wait long for his early probing to be rewarded. With his twelfth delivery, he drew a fine inside edge from Alastair Cook which the umpire did not detect but Ultra Edge did. Off the very next ball from Morkel, Jennings tickled an out-swinger, a replica of his second-innings dismissal at Lord’s.
If the situation was a test for Root, it was an even greater one for Ballance. The left-hander battled away for an hour, standing out of his crease to counter the moving ball and looking against instinct to get forward. In the end, he fell as he has so often before, playing a delivery of moderate pace from Philander into his stumps caught in no-man’s land. Questions remain.
South Africa’s pacemen then received able support from Keshav Maharaj, who after Root’s departure chipped in with the prize wickets of Stokes and Bairstow.
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Stokes, shorn of momentum by a barrage of early bouncers and then going a long period without facing ball, was caught behind by the juggling De Kock via an inside edge and pad, while Bairstow received a jaffa moments before tea, bowled off stump by one of the biggest spinning balls of the match.
Moeen Ali slog-swept his first ball to midwicket and briefly suggested with Liam Dawson that England’s tail might wag, but he was undone by a clever piece of bowling from Morris, who pushed him back with short balls before inviting a drive that looped to point. Stuart Broad was leg-before first ball, Dawson skied a slog-sweep and Wood poked to gully. England’s last four had tumbled for six runs in 29 balls.
Shades here of the conclusion to the South Africa innings, hustled to a swift end by Anderson snaffling four wickets for four runs in 16 balls, the last of which enabled Bairstow to become the first Yorkshire player to complete 100 catches for England.
Anderson had negotiated a ball change and the new one swung obligingly to bring him his seventh five-for on his favourite ground. Late in the day, he added another wicket to his collection, Heino Kuhn nicking off to second slip, but it is hard to see him leaving Nottingham with the result he wants.
“We need a couple of people to stand up with the ball and then we’re going to have to bat out of our skins to chase down whatever total we’re set,” he said last night.
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England v South Africa, second Test, day three
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