SA v ENG 2020: England on the brink of victory in Port Elizabeth Test after dominating display on Day 4

England need four more wickets to register an innings victory over South Africa in the third Test.

Joe Root ran through Proteas batting line-up in the second innings with part-time off-spin | Getty

England had another dominating outing against South Africa in the ongoing Port Elizabeth Test as they bundled out the hosts for a paltry 209 on Day 4, securing a massive first innings lead of 290 runs.

The Proteas were on 208/6 overnight and English pacer Stuart Broad ran through their lower order in the morning session, removing Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada in the span of four overs. Quinton de Kock, who was unbeaten on 63 at stumps on Day 3, failed to add a run and he was dismissed by left-arm seamer Sam Curran.

England off-spinner Dom Bess was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors, claiming 5 wickets for 51 runs. It was his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

Considering the rain forecast, England enforced the follow-on and South African batsmen were once again found wanting.

Batting in the second innings, the home team got reduced to 102/6 at the end of fourth day’s play. Faf du Plessis and company fell apart against England skipper Joe Root’s part-time off-spin. Root got rid of Pieter Malan (12), Du Plessis (36), Rassie van der Dussen (10) and De Kock (3) while Mark Wood sent Dean Elgar (15) and Zubayr Hamza (2) packing.

South Africa have an uphill task going into the final day of third Test as they still trail England by 188 runs with only four wickets in hand.

Brief Scores:

England 499/9 declared (Ollie Pope 135*, Ben Stokes 120; Keshav Maharaj 5-180, Kagiso Rabada 2-97) lead South Africa 209/10 (Quinton de Kock 63; Dom Bess 5-51, Stuart Broad 3-30) & 102/6 (Faf du Plessis 36; Joe Root 4-31, Mark Wood 2-11) by 188 runs.

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 19 Jan, 2020

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