After drubbing
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ENGLAND coach Trevor Bayliss admitted his side had a “shocker” after watching his batsmen roll over in a crushing second Test defeat to South Africa.
England collapsed in pathetic fashion to a 340-run loss.
Their gung-ho approach backfired as new captain Joe Root was left with plenty to ponder with the four-match series all square at 1-1.
Bayliss said: “We lost more wickets because we were tentative mentally, caught on the crease and feet not moving properly – so that’s something we have to work on.
Exposed
“We’ll have a chat about the problems, but the boys realise they’ve had a shocker.”
Chasing 474, the home side were skittled out for 133 before tea on the fourth day at Trent Bridge.
Only Alastair Cook (42) offered any prolonged resistance. Vernon Philander and Keshav Maharaj took three wickets, while Chris Morris and Duanne Olivier claimed two apiece.
But only Cook and Root got out to good balls, while Ben Stokes fell to a superb catch. Keaton Jennings and Gary Ballance were exposed with technical flaws in their game.
And the less said about Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad – who all tried to blast their way out of trouble – the better.
Root, forced to explain how his side lost a Test match to a chorus of boos, said: “It was very disappointing the way we played.
‘‘But it’s not a fair representation of how good we are as a team. It’s important to stay calm.”
England will make changes for The Oval on July 27, despite Root suggesting he wanted to keep faith with the top order despite poor performances. Jennings and Ballance look the most vulnerable. TAMMY BEAUMONT says that she is guarding against complacency when England face South Africa again in today’s Women’s World Cup semi-final at Bristol.
Beaumont, England’s opener and the leading run-scorer in the tournament, believes the 68-run win in the group stages will be irrelevant. She said: “It is a clean slate with a lot more to play for and they’ll come out hard to try to make up for that defeat.”