Dominant England take charge once again in Johannesburg
Wood. Root was dismissed off the last ball of the day, his side 248 all out and now with two full days to take the 10 wickets that would seal only a secondoverseasserieswininfour years.
SouthAfrica'shopelesssituation was compounded by the loss of opening bowler Vernon Philander, who pulled up with ahamstringinjuryinwhatwill be his final Test before international retirement. Not only that,butPhilanderbecamethe latest player in this series to be sanctionedbytheInternationalCricketCouncil,beinghanded a fine of 15% of his match fee and one demerit point for using "inappropriate language" after dismissing England's Jos Buttler on day two.
In reality, England's decisiontobatagainensuredmuch of the day would lack drama and instead be about the tourists moving to a position from wheretheywerehappytobowl again. With the Proteas 88-6 overnight, England may have still been entertaining the follow-on when Philander fell to Chris Woakes in the first full over of the day, only for a stand of79betweenQuintondeKock andDwainePretoriustodispel that notion.
Therefore the match continued,butthecontestwasput on hold. It is to South Africa's credit that England's second innings was not a complete procession.
At one stage, England lost three wickets for 24 runs, but it was of little consequence, as RootandCurranpushedSouth Africa's target to what would be the highest successful runchase in Test history.
Given the choice, England probably would have liked for Joe Denly and Buttler to make big scores, only for both to fall for eight. Their long-term Test futures will continue to be the subject of debate.