ROOTIN’ TOOTIN’ BOOTIN’

Captain Joe has led England to the brink of a stunning series win as his calm batting helped grind the feeble Proteas into the dirt

the line-up did enough to put themselves in a strong position to finish on a high.

Denly had been suffering from a migraine but was fine to bat at No.3 after another decent opening stand of 56 between Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley.

But he played on to his stumps via bat and pad to leave him with an average for the series of 30. There will, perhaps, be greater concern over Buttler, who arrived in the middle at 150-5 and a solid lead on which to build thanks to the openers and a 28-run cameo from Ben Stokes.

Stokes hit six boundaries before edging Beuran Hendricks to slip to pave the way for in-form Ollie Pope to try a similar blitz.

Pope could only generate 11 before cutting a ball too close to him and edging behind.

That gave Quinton de Kock (inset) his 200th dismissal in Tests in his 46th match – a new record, beating Adam Gilchrist by one.

De Kock appears to be the only keeper-batsman in world cricket who is able to do the job in all formats with a degree of success. Against a white ball that stays true, his minimal foot movement and hawk-like hand-eye coordination are enough for Buttler to thrive and prosper.

But in Test cricket, where Anrich Nortje got just enough movement to take the edge, he is drowning. As if to ram home the point, Sam Curran – on a king pair – walked out and played with the freedom Buttler longs for, caressing 35 from 29 balls as if it were a piece of cake.

Buttler will remain the final Test wicket for Vernon Philander, who got rid of him in the first innings but pulled up with a hamstring tear in the second after just nine balls.

To add insult to injury, Philander was hit with a 15 per cent match-fee fine and possibly the most worthless demerit point in history for giving Buttler a send off to continue their feud that has rumbled on since Cape Town.