Pommies pummelled
ENGLAND BLOWN AWAY ON FOURTH DAY Philander chosen Man-of-the-Match in fine all-round effort.
Vernon Philander led a fine all-round bowling effort as South Africa thrashed England by 340 runs in the second Test at Trent Bridge yesterday.
Victory saw the Proteas level the four-match series at 1-1.
England, set a mammoth 474 runs for victory, collapsed to 133 all out 40 minutes before tea on the fourth day.
Man-of-the-Match Philander took 3/24 runs in 10 overs, including an early double strike.
That gave him five wickets in total in a match where he also made scores of 54 and 42.
No England batsman made a 50 in a second innings where former captain Alastair Cook’s 42 was the top score.
The most made by any side to win in the fourth innings of a Test is the West Indies’ 418/7 against Australia at St John’s in 2003.
But the more immediate task for England was to see if they could at least keep South Africa in the field.
They failed miserably, the hosts bowled out in 44.2 overs despite South Africa being without Kagiso Rabada after the fast bowler was suspended for swearing at England’s Ben Stokes at Lord’s.
Philander removed left-handers Keaton Jennings (three) and Gary Ballance (four) during a burst of 2/8 in 19 balls.
Recalled all-rounder Chris Morris followed up with 2/2 in 20 balls to dismiss England captain Joe Root (eight) and Cook.
At lunch, England had slumped to 79/4, with Jonny Bairstow on 12 and Ben Stokes on five.
Only last year, the pair shared a stunning partnership of 399 against South Africa at Cape Town, with Stokes making 258 and Bairstow an unbeaten 150.
But their stand yesterday was worth just 12 when Bairstow (16) advanced down the pitch to leftarm spinner Keshav Maharaj only to drag an intended drive straight to Morris at mid-on.
“I can’t believe I have seen that,” said angry former England captain Michael Vaughan, commentating on BBC Radio’s Test Match Special.
“All you need to do is dangle the carrot and they’ll go for it. Dumb batting! What is he thinking?
“Even if it goes for four or six ... that’s not the point now. It’s about batting time.”
Moeen Ali hit six fours in his 27 before he too made a present of his wicket to Maharaj, sweeping the spinner straight to square leg.
Stokes at least gutsed it out for more than an hour while making 18 before he was caught and bowled by Philander off a low checked drive.
England lost their last three wickets on 133, paceman Duanne Olivier – only playing because Rabada was banned – ending the match when he dismissed tailenders Mark Wood and James Anderson with successive deliveries.
England had resumed with Cook and fellow left-handed opener Jennings both nought not out after surviving four overs late on Sunday. –