JIMMY’S KING OF SWING

But Anderson’s five-wicket haul still isn’t enough to slow down the tourists

JIMMY ANDERSON showed once again he’s king of the Trent Bridge swingers – but England are still staring down the barrel of a second-Test defeat.

The Burnley Express gave Joe Root’s men early hope with a brilliant display of the paceman’s art to claim South Africa’s last four first-innings wickets in the space of just 20 scintillating deliveries.

But after the tourists had subsided from their overnight 309-6 to 335 all out, England’s batsmen blew a big opportunity by being hustled out for just 205 inside 52 overs.

And instead of putting his 34-year-old feet up after his latest Nottingham ‘five-for’, Anderson spent the evening striving for more heroics.

He did indeed strike again – removing Proteas opener Heino Kuhn cheaply – but the tourists finished day two on 75-1 to lead by 205 as Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla guided South Africa to the close.

The fact that the record fourth-innings run chase here is the 284 England chased down for the loss of six wickets against New Zealand in 2004 illustrates the size of their task.

“It’s frustrating,” admitted Anderson. “But you’re going to have days like this when you’re a young side.

“Now we need a couple of people to stand up with the bat and the ball to get us back in the game. There is plenty of character in the team. I know we can do it. We must dust ourselves down and give it a go.”

Anderson has now used the perfect conditions on the banks of the Trent to take five wickets or more for his country on seven occasions.

He will have to rack up No.8 if Root (below) is going to avoid his first defeat as captain.

Root came to the rescue as the morning mayhem continued with the loss of Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings with just six runs on the board.

Deciding attack was the best form of defence, he brought up a half-century in just 40 balls.

But Root unwisely kept on swinging – until Morne Morkel produced a ball that had his name on it and Quinton de Kock took a super catch.

He wasn’t the only England batsman to pay the price for poor shot selection. And Anderson added: “There were times when we played one shot too many.”

Once Root departed, only Jonny Bairstow demonstrated the patience that the situation needed before Keshav Maharaj spun one prodigiously past his defence to bowl him for 45.