BAT OUT OF HELL

Seven wickets for 39 runs... yet another collapse leaves Root in danger of defeat

ENGLAND face ending the year with one more Test disappointment thanks to another limp batting display.

Bundled out for just 181 in answer to South Africa’s 284, they will have to conjure up an extraordinary performance to win on this result pitch – the Proteas are 175 runs ahead with six second-innings wickets remaining.

On a surface with its fair share of inconsistencies, England’s batsmen proved their ability to collapse in a Test match remains steadfastly consistent.

They lost their last seven wickets for just 39 runs, giving the home side a firstinnings lead of 103, an advantage they could scarcely have envisaged when England were 142-3.

That was the most frustrating element of a day when England wasted the hard graft that had initially put them into a reasonable position.

And it was the two men with most responsibility, captain Joe Root and vicecaptain Ben Stokes, the two best batsmen in the side, who succumbed most meekly.

The opening salvo from Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander was about as good as it gets, one bowler roaring in at over 90mph and full of aggression and the other surgically probing and testing with accuracy.

They did for openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley as easily if they were tearing wrapping paper off Christmas presents.

Philander finished with 4-16 and did not concede a run in his first five-over spell, while Rabada was a menace and even if he leaked a few boundaries, it was worth it.

And yet a compelling session ended even as the two Joes – Root and Denly – battled for all they were worth, taking blows to the helmet and body and leaving the ball superbly.

It was a golden chance for Root to back up his double hundred in Hamilton with another first innings of substance, having preached about batting for long periods.

So when he attempted to fiddle a ball down to third man only to edge behind, he punched his bat twice in anger at such a soft dismissal.

Stokes began his innings in total control, and while he was in the middle he looked as good as Root did, but Dwaine Pretorius got rid of Denly with a beauty when he had made 50