Twitter Reactions: England take lead in the series with a win at The Oval

England managed to secure a thrilling victory at the Kennington Oval as they won the third Test by an astounding 239 runs margin. With this victory, they lead the series 2-1 with one match to go. Having won the last series, this triumph ensured that the trophy stays with them.

The day began with Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma resuming their overnight partnership. They had a daunting task ahead looking to save the Test match for the Proteas on the last day. Dean Elgar made his mark with a stupendous century, his eighth in Test matches. However, South Africa did lose 2 consecutive wickets in the first session with debutant Toby Roland-Jones continuing to impress.

With Elgar and Chris Morris at the crease, there was still some hope for South Africa to save this. However, Moeen Ali proved to be deadly for South Africa on a Day 5 pitch. First, he got the better of Chris Morris. Later, he went on to complete a hat-trick accounting for Dean Elgar and Kagiso Rabada of consecutive balls. Then he had Morne Morkel trapped LBW in front of the stumps on the first ball of his next over to complete the hat-trick.

The South Africans were bundled for 252 runs as the English side produced a magnificent victory. Elgar played a fantastic knock but that just wasn’t enough to create a miracle for the Proteas. Among the wicket takers, Ali led the way with figures of 4/45 while Roland-Jones also struck thrice in the second innings to follow up his five-wicket haul from the first.

Ben Stokes along with his batting exploits got a couple of wickets too while Stuart Broad got the lone wicket of Heino Kuhn yesterday. Surprisingly, Jimmy Anderson who took 3 wickets in the first innings went wicketless.

Here are some of the amazing Twitter reactions during the course of the day

BOOM!
Brilliant @MoeenAli..
..and brilliant @englandcricket!
Congrats @root66 & the team. ? https://t.co/HE7OkZipkO

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) July 31, 2017

What a way to end a Test Match!! Hatrickk!!! Great win for @root66 and @englandcricket !! #ENGvSA #100thTest ?

— Sarah Taylor (@Sarah_Taylor30) July 31, 2017

Now that's the way to play … Fantastic performance @englandcricket … #2-1 #ENGvSA

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 31, 2017

Well played @deanelgar ???

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) July 31, 2017

Seriously, though, imagine if Root had burned his reviews on those nonsenses Broad wanted sent upstairs eaerlier in the innings.

— Dave Tickner (@tickerscricket) July 31, 2017

Important for SA to get some fast-scoring batsmen in if they wanted to win this. Elgar batting much too slowly. #AdvantageSouthAfrica

— Dan Liebke (@LiebCricket) July 31, 2017

Something about Roland-Jones and hat-tricks to end games. #ENGvSA

— Srinath (@_peews) July 31, 2017

First hat-trick for an England spinner since 1938 there from Mo…good job Liam Dawson was playing in this Test…

— Chris Stocks (@StocksC_cricket) July 31, 2017

Wasn't convinced about Elgar before this knock but maybe he is a decent batsman after all.
Of course he doesn't care what I think.

— Gappistan Radio (@GappistanRadio) July 31, 2017

Kagiso how many balls did your innings last…? #engvsa pic.twitter.com/unLCz0ZquV

— Innocent Bystander (@InnoBystander) July 31, 2017

Warne seamlessly moving from Bill Lawry to pigeons to McGrath to poor batting to why one would bother batting to the futility of existence.

— Dan Liebke (@LiebCricket) July 31, 2017

Surely there can be little debate about Ben Stokes being MOM in #ENGvSA despite TRJ's outstanding effort on debut

— Brett Graham (@worldofBG) July 31, 2017

This partnership will definitely end in a run out. #ENGvSA

— Dan Liebke (@LiebCricket) July 31, 2017

Gritty, sterling century by Elgar. Unlikely to save the Test for SA, but advances his personal credentials considerably. Topnotcher now

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) July 31, 2017

No. of 4th inns 100s for each team since 2011:

6 SA
4 Eng, Pak
3 Aus, Ind, NZ, WI
2 SL, Zim
1 Ban#EngvSA

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) July 31, 2017

Dean Elgar has shown a lot of character & plenty of heart – Well played !!! #100 https://t.co/MPhtJvdqup

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) July 31, 2017

100 for Dean Elgar! His 8th Test century for South Africa #EngvSA pic.twitter.com/7R3AKOjaL2

— ICC (@ICC) July 31, 2017

Elgar gets a standing ovation from a very appreciative crowd. It's been a terrifically gutsy innings. #ENGvSA

— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) July 31, 2017

Another SA batsman offering no shot…is this some "great" piece of advice that McKenzie gave?! #ENGvSA

— ThePoppingCrease (@PoppingCreaseSA) July 31, 2017

Who needs a bat when you've got a big front pad to kick it away with eh @ShaneRWatson33 @OfficialCSA? #ENGvSA

— England's Barmy Army (@TheBarmyArmy) July 31, 2017

Dean Elgar putting a new grip on his bat in under 30-minutes is so much more impressive than this innings. #EngvSA

— Vithushan (@Vitu_E) July 31, 2017

if SA will survive this Session Without Any Wicket! We will see an Thrilling Test Match #SAvsENG

— Keshu Bhogesara (@GalliCricketer) July 31, 2017