Twitter Reactions: England on verge of series win as pacers, Zak Crawley dominate day 4 against South Africa

England bowlers dominated Day four of the ongoing third Test match against South Africa at the Oval to put themselves in a prime position to win the match on Day five. Proteas' second innings collapsed on just 169 runs after England's first innings stumbled on just 158 runs. England, while chasing a 130-run target, scored 97/0 at the end of Day four and need only 33 runs to win the match on Day five.

England continued their first innings from 154/7 on day four but managed to add only four runs before getting bowled out on only 158. Marco Jansen was the best bowler for South Africa with five wickets and Rabada contributed with four. England managed to take a small but a crucial 40-run lead in the first innings with Ollie Pope scoring the highest 67 runs.

South African openers Dean Elgar and Sarel Erwee started the second innings well with a 58-run partnership for the first wicket. Stokes dismissed Erwee on 26 runs to give England an opening they needed and the Proteas failed to recover from that. Broad removed Elgar on 36 runs who was looking destined for a big knock and South Africa were struggling at 83/2. South Africa's innings collapsed on 169 runs in 56.2 overs with a 129-run lead at hand. For England, Stokes and Broad took three wickets each whereas James Anderson and Ollie Robinson grabbed two wickets apiece.

England on the path to a 10-wicket win against South Africa

South Africa missed a golden opportunity on the first ball as Marco Jansen dropped Alex Lees' catch at slip on Kagiso Rabada's delivery. It would have been a start Proteas needed to defend the 130-run target but that dropped catch shifted the momentum towards England who smashed four fours in the next two overs. Both English openers Zak Crawley and Lees have been under the lens for their poor performances this year but both the batters stood up their ground on Day four to remain unbeaten. 

Zak Crawley smashed his first fifty of the summer in just 36 balls in England's effort to finish the game on Day four. But officials decided to end the day's play due to bad light when England needed only 33 runs to win the match. 

Here is how Twitter reacted to day four's play between SA and ENG

Epic, doughnut-fuelled, effort by @guerillahendo to see England home, sadly thwarted by the light meter. #ENGvSA

— Rich Turner 💚 🇪🇺😷 (@richtmusic) September 11, 2022

Cricket really does shoot itself in the foot sometimes #ENGvSA

— Billy Crawford (@BillCrawford87) September 11, 2022

Packed crowd and 33 runs needed - let’s come back tomorrow. Test cricket has an uphill battle. #ENGvSA

— JBasing (@jakew88) September 11, 2022

either you play for them or chill at home.. some of you left the team when there was no big names around to pull the team through #ENGvSA https://t.co/NQ2X81TrWl

— Sherlock Homeless (@iloveesha) September 11, 2022

A brilliant performance from the England bowlers 👏#ENGvSA | #WTC23 | https://t.co/N8y2Vli6yb pic.twitter.com/0jbykV78OA

— ICC (@ICC) September 11, 2022

With South Africa so keen to go home, wonder if they will be happy to add an extra half an hour this evening to allow themselves to rest up and get back even earlier? 😂 Good riddance to them after their cynical decision to turn down an extra day’s play. #EngvSA #englandcricket

— Justin Allen (@justinallen1976) September 11, 2022

A 2 day Test effectively on the cards #ENGvSA

— Isa Guha (@isaguha) September 11, 2022

Dear Cricket South Africa,

If you're all so concerned about catching that flight out of the UK asap, why not bowl badly in this fourth inns and then you can toddle off back to SA tonight instead.

Yours,

England Cricket.#ENGvSA

— Charlie 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇪🇺 (@charlie_strange) September 11, 2022

The Oval erupts as Stuart Broad becomes the 5th leading wicket taker of all time 👏👏👏#ENGvSA pic.twitter.com/s1N8E9KfqS

— England's Barmy Army (@TheBarmyArmy) September 11, 2022

Alex Lees and Zak Crawley scored 49 runs off the last 6 overs.

Imagine how many more they would have scored if they could see the ball! #ENGvSA https://t.co/nYi5tuzzA8

— Being Outside Cricket (@OutsideCricket) September 11, 2022

In T20
Mohammad Rizwan goes for 55 in 49 balls.

In Test

Fifty by Zak Crawley in just 36 balls in the 4th innings of 3rd Test against South Africa

— Mohammad Faheem (@Mohamma14798515) September 11, 2022