ENGLAND HUMBLED AS SA LEVELS SERIES
peak of their game and this time they gained excellent support from Chris Morris (2-7) with only Duanne Olivier (2-25), an unimpressive stand-in for Kagiso Rabada, failing to pose a perpetual threat.
England had a single to its name overnight. It felt utterly worthless; its defeat looked only a matter of time. Perhaps it could have planted it and hoped it germinated, or framed it and put it on the wall. Wickets would not be long delayed. By the time the lunch clock brought temporary release, it had careered 79 for four. Only 16.2 overs later it was all over.
Alastair Cook put up most England resistance, scrambling 42 from 76 balls before he became the fourth England batsman dismissed, hurried by Morris' excellent bouncer and punching it away from his face down the leg-side where Quinton de Kock held the catch.
Keaton Jennings fell in the second over of the morning, Philander wasting no time in creating a gap between bat and pad to bowl him. Gary Ballance never got out of his ditch and fell lbw to Philander.
Root (8), the captain, played inside a swinging yorker from Morris. Another excellent delivery from a South Africa attack hunting England down with admirable skill.
Jonny Bairstow's self-admon- ishment was clear as he tried to hit Keshav Maharaj's left-arm spin down the ground and only succeeded in dragging it to deep mid-on. Moeen Ali reached 27 with his usual sang-froid and then top-edged a sweep at the same bowler to Heino Kuhn in front of square.
At least Ben Stokes (18) showed a willingness to buckle down, not for the first time, before pushing back a wary drive at Philander.
The end was rapid, as if England's three pace bowlers, still aching from their work on the third day, had observed the efforts of the batsmen on the fourth and decided they had seen enough.
Stuart Broad indulged in a slog-sweep and was lucky only to get a groan from his home crowd, and Olivier wrapped things up with two in two.
Mark Wood spliced to gully, James Anderson poked to the keeper.
The series swung markedly from England to South Africa and conceivably in the last two Tests it could swing back again. But it is South Africa who look ingrained in the ways of Test cricket.