ENG v SA, 3rd Test, Day 2 Review: England take a giant leap after a Proteas collapse

An unprecedented batting collapse from the South African unit has helped the hosts take a massive advantage in the third Test at The Oval, London. Kagiso Rabada‘s exquisite knock coming in at number 9 did save the day momentarily, but the repercussions of the top order failure might still have a huge impact on the result of the game as the balance has already tilted towards the Englishmen.

Resuming their innings at 171/4, Alastair Cook seemed to have lost his focus a bit and that lapse of concentration cost him his wicket very early in the day. His partner Ben Stokes though was keen to stick in the middle and add runs to his team’s total, and he did it in some style. It was a quintessential Stokes innings, aggressive, dominating and repulsive.

Jonny Bairstow and Stokes’ partnership did terrorize the Proteas bowlers as neither of the players was willing to play the anchor’s role. Stokes reached his half-century soon with a slap down the ground off Rabada. They added a valuable 75 runs in difficult circumstances before Rabada sent Bairstow back just a few balls after the new ball was taken.

A batting extravaganza!

Stokes was then accompanied by Moeen Ali and from here on till the final ball of England’s innings, it was all about the 26-year-old. Moeen stuck with him for a brief period and that was pretty much the case with the tail as well, but Stokes took the initiative to score runs and he did provide some entertainment to the crowd.

Debutant Roland-Jones came in after Ali’s downfall and he was all over the South African bowlers as well. He scored a run-a-ball 25 which included four boundaries and one big hit out of the park. Stokes remained a spectator during this partnership but once Jones walked back, he was at it again.

He had No.11 James Anderson for company and needed 7 runs for his hundred; sensing how delicate the situation was Stokes hit three consecutive sixes off Keshav Maharaj to get to a hundred and the crowd was blown away with what they had just witnessed. This knock just adds more vehemence to the point that he’s the best all-rounder in the world right now by some distance.

Wickets kept tumbling at the other end and finally, Stokes too lost his cool and Maharaj had the final laugh for the innings. England registered 353 runs on the board and for the visitors, Morne Morkel and Rabada picked up 3 wickets each.

The “Roland-Jones” show

Talk about dream Test debuts and this one will rank amongst the best, without a shadow of a doubt. A batting line consisting of Hashim Amla, Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock and Heino Kuhn remained flabbergasted as Toby Roland-Jones piled up agony for du Plessis & co.

As always, the Broad-Anderson duo barely gave away anything with the new ball and when the 29-year-old started his spell, he provided a breakthrough in his very first over. A thick outside edge travelled straight to the keeper and that was the first of many more to come. The ever reliable Hashim Amla’s defence was not strong enough, neither was Quinton de Kock’s aggression.

Within a blink of an eye, the top four South African batters were back in the pavilion, all of them dismissed by Roland-Jones. He inflicted his infectious energy to the rest of his teammates as well and James Anderson got one to swing back in which du Plessis thought would move away and shoulder armed only for him to be trapped in front. The skipper was back cheaply, leaving his team in deep trouble at 47/5.

Things kept getting worse as Anderson took a return catch to negate the Chris Morris factor and Stokes soon got rid of Keshav Maharaj and a follow on very much on the radar. But an unexpected fightback from Rabada and Temba Bavuma attempted to sail them through the follow-on trouble.

The duo batted for a while and managed to face the music with some resolute application, which the top order lacked. Nevertheless, a tactical masterstroke from Joe Root to bring in Stuart Broad completely out of the blue worked brilliantly as he rattled Rabada’s stumps after the duo added 53 precious runs for the 8th wicket.

South Africa finished at 126/8 in 43 overs with Bavuma and Morne Morkel at the crease. They currently trail by 227 runs, which means they need another 28 runs to avoid the follow-on, which will be their primary target on day 3.

Brief Scores

England first innings: 353 all out in 103.2 overs (Alastair Cook 88, Ben Stokes 112; Kagiso Rabada 3/85, Morne Morkel 3/70)

South Africa first innings: 126/8 in 43 overs (Temba Bavuma 34*, Rabada 30; Toby Roland-Jones 4/39)