Proteas flattened by an innings inside 3 days

MANCHESTER - South Africa lost seven wickets in the final session of the third day including the last five in just 31 balls against the second new ball to be dismissed for 179 to lose the second test against England by an innings and 85 runs at Old Trafford in Manchester yesterday.

The series is now level at 1:1 with the third test beginning at The Oval on September 8.

Seamers Ollie Robinson and veteran Jimmy Anderson shared seven wickets as the tourists collapsed from 141-3 at tea to 179 all out in 20.1 overs with Robinson, recalled to the XI after a lengthy absence, finishing with 4-43 while the evergreen Anderson added 3-30 to his first innings return of 3-32.

Keegan Petersen and an injured Rassie van der Dussen had batted throughout the afternoon session to give South Africa the tiniest glimmer of hope but they were dismissed almost immediately after the break to trigger the collapse.

Petersen, unbeaten on 42 from 152 deliveries with just a single, late-cut boundary, edged a brute of a delivery from Ben Stokes to ‘keeper Ben Foakes six balls later having just seen van der Dussen dismissed in the same fashion two balls earlier for his tea-time score of 41 from 132 deliveries.

Van der Dussen had bravely batted with a fractured left index finger and was ruled out of the final test immediately after the game with allrounder Wiaan Mulder, currently playing for Leicestershire, called into the squad as a replacement.

England’s three frontline seamers laid the platform for an inevitable victory with a wicket apiece inside the first hour of play with captain Dean Elgar (11) the first to go.