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  • England vs South Africa, 3rd Men’s Test, Day 4 highlights: Jonny Bairstow, Dean Elgar’s polar knocks, Proteas’ misfiring and other moments

England vs South Africa, 3rd Men’s Test, Day 4 highlights: Jonny Bairstow, Dean Elgar’s polar knocks, Proteas’ misfiring and other moments

South Africa are well and truly on the mat in the third Test versus England at The Oval.

user-circle cricketcountry.com Written by CricketCountry Staff
Published: Jul 31, 2017, 08:00 AM (IST)
Edited: Jul 31, 2017, 12:00 AM (IST)

© Getty Images
© Getty Images

England have South Africa on the mat at stumps on Day Four of the third Test. The day started with England ticking the scoreboard courtesy fifties from Tom Westley and Joe Root. The onus shifted to Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow to accelerate when hosts had a daunting lead. They delayed the declarations, according to many, but South Africa’s consecutive failure with the bat have brought them touching distance from winning the match on Monday. Let us walk through the top moments of the day:

Westley passes stern test to register maiden fifty: England had a good start to their second innings. Alastair Cook fell early, but Keaton Jennings- Westley stitched a fifty-run stand. Jennings’ chancy innings came to an end on 48, but his partner carried on. He was fluent on Day Three, but had to work hard to notch up his first half-century. He played and missed on a few occasions and was kept at bay with South Africa bowling in tight lines. Nonetheless, his composure stood out. A cracking flick off Morne Morkel got the youngster to his landmark.

Root, on the other hand, also got to another fifty. But once again, he was dismissed soon in a bid to accelerate.

Bairstow entertains: After lunch, England looked to up the ante in order to declare. Wickets tumbled at regular intervals, but Bairstow propelled the lead close to 500. He joined Stokes at 202 for 5. He took minimal time to get going and looked in ominous touch. His 63 (off 58 balls) comprised clean hits and improvised strokes. An upper cut, a well-executed late cut and few flicks helped the wicketkeeper-batsman to pile on quick runs. His running between wickets was also at par. Bairstow was on ODI-mode and showed good presence of mind. An innings filled with 6 fours and a six was backed fully by the spectators.

In addition, Stokes also set the stage on fire with a 38-ball 31. A huge six off Chris Morris was the highlight of his stay in the middle.

Protea fire gone for a toss: Commentators on air stated that if there is one team who can put up a fight in pursuit of 492, it is South Africa. Many remained optimistic on them to put up a better show in the final innings. However, the script remained the same. Wickets fell one after the other and they are now on the brink of a big defeat.

Stuart Broad ripped apart Heino Kuhn’s defense to draw first blood.

Hashim Amla once again fell to debutant Toby Roland-Jones. He was in two minds whether to play or leave the ball. In the end, it kissed his willow and Root took a low catch at slips.

A peach off a yorker by Stokes rattled Quinton de Kock’s stumps. Certainly, one cannot keep this English all-rounder out of contest!

Faf du Plessis, for the consecutive time, fell offering no shot on his very first ball. Interestingly, du Plessis has now taken 4 unsuccessful reviews for his wicket in this series.

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However, an unbeaten 65-run stand between Temba Bavuma and Dean Elgar led South Africa to 117 for 4 at stumps. The duo played the a sense of calm and priced their scalps. Elgar was impressive and stuck around in the middle despite taking some blows. With 11 fours, he is batting on 72 and remains South Africa’s biggest bet to save the Test on Day Five.

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