South Africa v England, first Test from Centurion FEELING SICK
CRICKET Under-the-weather England in need of another miracle
Dean Wilson
ENGLAND plunged the depths of cricketing despair during a truly awful first two-thirds of the day in which they were as sick as dogs on and off the field.
They were pummelled and punished by the bats of the South African middle and lower order, while Jos Buttler and skipper Joe Root became the latest duo to be laid low with illness.
However plucky rearguard defiance was shown by their batsmen in the final third to provide the hope and foundations for what would be an extraordinary turnaround on day four of Headingley-esque proportions.
Set a mammoth score of 376 to chase they have battled to 121-1 with Rory Burns leading the way to give them hope of yet another golden day in a memorable 2019.
But they will need a complete reversal of the opening two sessions on Saturday.
“We have given ourselves a fighting chance,” said assistant coach Graham Thorpe.
“It is a lot of runs to get but there is belief in the changing room and maybe what happened in the summer has helped give them that belief. We’ve been inconsistent at times through this Test match and made things very hard for ourselves, but we’ll have a chance in this Test match.
“It is a long shot and we will have to play very well.”
After just two hours of play the lead had rocketed from 175 to 300 with nightwatchman Anrich Nortje collecting 40 of them.
Smashing
Jofra Archer was inexplicably kept away from bowling for the first 45 minutes of the day, which allowed Nortje and Rassie van der Dussen to add 91 before England’s quickest bowler stopped their fun.
With his tail up Archer continued to test the middle of the pitch, but Quinton de Kock was not only ready for it, he was keen to take it on smashing three sixes and two fours to help South Africa race away.
With Root entering the field every now and again to make sure he could bat in the top six whenever the time came, England were quite simply
rudderless and they were also running on empty. It was easy to see why frustrations developed into a strong exchange of words between Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad (above) as they felt the pressure of the situation.
“That’s good,” added Thorpe. “The game has passion in it and I don’t think there is anything wrong with it.
“I think guys need to be able to challenge each other on the pitch and sort it out.”
They soon made up, and after the break the final three wickets came, but only once Vernon Philander did yet more damage with the bat in making 46 valuable runs.
Archer picked up Keshav Maharaj to register his third five-wicket haul in just seven Test matches, the first Englishman to be able to do so since Phil Tufnell in 1991.
His overall figures of 5-102 from just 17 overs tells you that it is unlikely be the most memorable or treasured of hauls unless of course the batsmen go on to produce something remarkable.
Dom Sibley (left) was the only man to fall, for 29, to a very tame caught and bowled for Maharaj.
But he did his job in putting on 92 for the opening stand, which could yet be worth its weight in gold.