England Vs South Africa: 2nd Test – 5 Game Changing Moments

After facing a comprehensive defeat at the hands of the home side, South Africa looked determined to level the series at Trent Bridge and making a statement against a buoyant English side. Faf du Plessis was back where he looks the most comfortable, i.e., leading his Test side. He won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first. The men in green posted an above par score of 335 in the first innings, powered by the partnership between Amla and de Kock.

England had no answer to the bowling attack of the visitors as they handed over a lead of 130. South Africans managed to stretch their lead with the help of contributions from Elgar, Du Plessis, Amla and man of the match Vernon Philander, who stood out in every innings of the Test match, both with bat and ball. England succumbed to pressure as South Africa levelled the four match Test series at 1-1. Let us look at the five game changing moments in the match.

1. The Broad-Anderson Show

It is a well-renowned fact that the partnership of Stuart Broad and James Anderson with the ball will be placed among the likes of Thompson-Lillee, Waqar Younis-Wasim Akram and Walsh-Ambrose. Together in 92 matches, they have picked up as many as 704, by creating havoc with their swing and seam. The duo picks up wickets at a strike rate which is second to none.

Their performance in the first innings of the match was an exact exhibition of their ability to run through sides in tandem. Anderson picked up his 22nd 5-wicket haul in Test matches and Stuart Broad picked up three key wickets in the first innings. Broad took the key wickets of Kuhn, Amla and de Kock while Anderson wrapped up the tail after picking up the wicket of Dean Elgar up front.

2. South Africa Gaining early advantage

Even after withering the Broad-Anderson storm, South Africa managed to put 335 on the board in the first innings. The Protean batsmen had to grind out every single run, but slowly and steadily put up an above par total in front of the home side. England would have been the most frustrated with the Philander-Morris partnership down the order. When the visitors lost the wicket of Bavuma, the men in green only had 235 runs on the board.

But Philander scored an important half century (54), along with able support from Morris(36), to post 100 runs more to the total. Earlier, Hashim Amla(78) and Quinton de Kock(68) also put their team in a comfortable position with their respective contributions. One had a feeling that the home side gave away 50 runs too many the end of the first innings.

3. England’s batting having no answer to South Africa

England lost their two openers with only three runs on the board. Except for Joe Root (78) and Jonny Bairstow(45), none were able to spend much time in the crease. It was only due to exceptional bowling from the likes of Morkel and Philander with the new ball. The Protean duo hunted in packs while Keshav Maharaj chipped in with valuable wickets in the middle.

Chris Morris came in and wiped off the tail before they could wag. Maharaj and Morris, who picked up 3 wickets each, enjoyed the spoils after the foundation laid by Philander and Morkel, who in turn picked up a couple of wickets respectively. English batsmen were found wanting in challenging conditions as the Protean enjoyed a healthy 130-run lead.

4. South Africa allowed stretching the lead

Unlike the South African bowlers in the first innings, English bowlers remained ineffective to get in deep into the middle order. Even though Kuhn was dismissed early, England could not take wickets in clumps and allowed the lead to be stretched even further. The partnership between Elgar(80) and Amla(87), took the game away from the home side. The contributions for Faf du Plessis and Vernon Philander, yet again, didn’t help their cause either.

Much like Zimbabwe in Colombo, who were stretching their lead in front of a hapless Sri Lankan attack, back in Trent Bridge, the match was going along the same pattern. By the end of it, South Africa completely knocked England out of the game as they posted a target of 474 runs with two days in hand. England could only salvage a draw or lose from thereon.

5. The Great British Batting collapse

With the psychological advantage over the English, the visitors made full use of the situation which led to the Great British batting collapse. Cook was the only batsman who had the intent to survive at the crease. Yet again, it was the collectively brilliant bowling performance from the Proteas to which the English batsman had no answer to. England could only manage to stay at the crease for 45 overs before getting bundled.

Very rarely do you see a player perform in all the four innings of the Test match, both with bat and ball. Philander picked up three important wickets with Maharaj to create havoc within the English dressing room. Morris was unplayable for his 6 over spell as he picked up a couple of wickets without giving away anything.The formalities were completed by Olivier who picked the last couple of wickets. From 122-6, the last four batsmen were dismissed by only adding only seven runs.