England lead by 46 runs That was an exceptional bowling performance, led by the inevitable Jimmy Anderson: he ends with figures 19-6-40-5. That’s his 28th five-for in Test cricket. He turns 38 this year.
WICKET! South Africa 223 all out (Nortje c Stokes b Anderson 4)
Five wickets for Anderson – and five catches for Ben Stokes. Nortje, pushed back by a couple of bouncers, edged a drive and was beautifully taken, goalkeeper-style, by Stokes at second slip.
88th over: South Africa 222-9 (Philander 16, Nortje 4) A quiet over, one from it. Nortje looks very comfortable.
87th over: South Africa 221-9 (Philander 15, Nortje 4) Pope at gully misses a run-out chance, with Nortje well short of his ground. Nortje survives the remainder of Anderson’s over without much difficulty, flicking a boundary over square leg to get off the mark. South Africa usually bat deep – Adelaide 1998 might be the strongest lower order in Test history – and Nortje is a terrific No11.
86th over: South Africa 216-9 (Philander 14, Nortje 0) Philander decides it’s time to slog, which is slightly surprising given the excellence of Nortje’s batting in the first Test. He misses with swipes at Broad’s first two deliveries before taking a single off the fifth.
“Mike Waters is close,” says Adam Hillmann, “but the real reason umpires have been instructed to ignore no-balls is that the ICC can’t think of any other way to increase the over rate.”
Ha. It’s okay, they’ve cracked that problem – they’re going to increase it to 98.
85th over: South Africa 215-9 (Philander 13, Nortje 0) Jimmy Anderson took an ODI hat-trick 17 years ago, but he hasn’t managed one in Tests. And he still hasn’t: Nortje leaves the hat-trick ball outside off stump. But he does have figures of 17-6-34-4. He probably wouldn’t have played had Jofra Archer been fit.
Updated
WICKET! South Africa 215-9 (Rabada c Buttler b Anderson 0)
Jimmy Anderson is on a two-day hat-trick! Kagiso Rabada goes first ball, thin-edging an immaculate delivery through to Buttler. No looseners here.
Updated
Jimmy Anderson will open the bowling. He has two balls of his 17th over remaining, having taken the wicket of Keshav Maharaj last night.
“Morning Rob,” says Mike Waters. “Could there be any credibility in the theory that the ICC have instructed their umpires to call as few no balls as possible as a way to deter the spot betting market, and by extension the illicit payments to players to bowl them on demand?”
That’s a cracking conspiracy theory, but I suspect there’s approximately 0.00000000000001 per cent chance of it being true.
Preamble
Morning. South Africa and England are perfect dance partners. In the last 28 years, since South Africa’s readmission to Test cricket, they have been as evenly matched as any teams in the world: 15 wins to England, 16 to South Africa and four series victories apiece.
Usually, contrasting styles make for the best fights. With these two, it’s the similarities – quality seam bowling, lively pitches, an unusual mixture of toughness and insecurity – that have made the matches so compelling. One team rarely gets away from the other, particularly in the first innings, and that has led to many lowish-scoring minor classics: The Oval 1994, Headingley 1998, Lord’s 2012.
And, perhaps, Cape Town 2020. South Africa will resume on 215 for eight, a deficit of 54, after a terrific bowling performance from England – and an even better catching display from Ben Stokes – on the second day. Not for the last time, the bowlers rescued the batsmen from the stocks.
On a dry wicket, a first-innings lead would make England strongish favourites to level the series. But we should assume the square root of bugger all until those last two wickets are taken. The Ghost of Cape Town past, in this case an apparition of a frog in a blender, is a reminder that an exemplary bowling performance can quickly be undone.
Updated
