INVESTEC 3RD TEST Bullish Stokes leads
AT THE KIA OVAL FEW can resist the force of nature that is Ben Stokes when he gets on a charge and South Africa were the latest to be trampled underfoot by England’s raging bull.
Following a superb century on the second day which established such a dominant bridgehead for England, the all-rounder returned with two wickets in two balls at the Oval yesterday to blast a huge hole in South Africa’s rearguard.
Having been set 492 to win by Joe Root after England declared on 313-8, and needing to bat out four sessions and 136 overs, South Africa were 117-4 at stumps – still 375 adrift and with a mountain in front of them.
At the close Temba Bavuma and Dean Elgar had put together an unbeaten 65-run stand for the fifth wicket, but they remain in the foothills and if England can remove one of them early today, they surely have the match and a 2-1 lead in the series in their grasp.
Root will no doubt have sleepless nights as England skipper but there will be fewer of them when Stokes is in this sort of form. Last night he was free to dream of taking an unassailable lead in the Investec Series to Old Trafford at the end of this week.
For that he owes gratitude not only to his vice-captain but plenty of other players, including Alastair Cook for his grit and Toby Roland-Jones for his five-wicket haul on debut in the first innings.
Stuart Broad has bowled better than his wickets column in this series suggests – he has just seven wickets in three matches – but he landed the first blow here as England set about the South Africa second innings, pinging the top of Heino Kuhn’s off stump.
Roland-Jones followed up with Hashim Amla for the second time in the match to make an opening that little bit wider.
However, it was Stokes who smashed his way through. First he undid Quinton de Kock with a searing yorker. Next ball he fooled Faf du Plessis with a huge inswinger as, for the second time in the match, the South Africa captain thrust a pad at the ball with bat aloft.
The hat-trick ball came at the start of Stokes’s next over and, given that he seems best operating on instinct and adrenaline, the five-minute gap perhaps predictably saw him waste the opportunity for three in three with a ball down the leg side. He will get the opportunity again for sure and it would be a brave man to bet against him joining the other 12 bowlers to have done it for England.
Root’s men resumed at 74-1 yesterday, already with a lead of 252 but still with plenty at stake.
Keaton Jennings had much still to prove after a string of low scores in the series to date and having worn the seat of his pants threadbare on Saturday evening with some huge strokes of luck.
He looked better early on, middling some on his way to 48, but the manner of his dismissal – reacting stiffly to a delivery from Kagiso Rabada which climbed late on him and deflecting it to third slip – was a worry.
Jennings will another go in the fourth Test but on the evidence of this series so far Australia’s quicks will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of tackling him in the Ashes.
Tom Westley provided a contrast, even if waiting for his runs to arrive felt like sitting at a rural bus stop – his first nine yesterday taking get 54 balls as 47 were scored at the other end. But he did grind away, battling to a maiden Test half-century before he was stumped charging Keshav Maharaj then changing his mind and attempting a defensive block four feet down the pitch. Root pitched in with a swifter half-century and Stokes and Jonny Bairstow weighed in with 49 from 46 balls, the former falling to Chris Morris on the slog for 31. Dawid Malan fell for 10 from 18 balls but deserves sympathy for having to put the needs of the team over his own on debut after failing in the first innings. Bairstow was allowed to trot on with Roland-Jones as England built the barriers high with Root choosing to declare at tea when the wicketkeeper was caught on the boundary. Some felt the England skipper had delayed his declaration too long, waiting until the lead reached 491 before calling time on the innings. But it seemed reasonable given that it still left South Africa with a huge task. And even more so last night with four of their best men gone. MAKING three changes to your team after a heavy defeat can look like desperation. Yet for England, who did just that after being hammered at Trent Bridge, it looks as if the three-card trick has worked.
In a series where fortunes have swung wildly, victory in this third Test would be a cause of celebration and relief for Joe Root in the early days of his captaincy.
The selectors will also be relieved men after their judgment calls on England’s three Test debutants been largely vindicated.
Dawid Malan may have had a quiet first match, making scores of one and 10 batting at No 5.
But both Toby RolandJones, whose five-wicket haul in South Africa’s first innings turned this contest in England’s favour, and Tom Westley, who impressed with have