Amla grinds England down as lead swells

Tea South Africa 335 and 236 for 4 (du Plessis 42*, Bavuma 12*) lead England 205 by 366 runs
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Amla masterclass frustrates England

South Africa, secure, circumspect and seemingly bound for victory, led by 366 with six wickets remaining by tea on the third day at Trent Bridge. England had managed to prise out their two knottiest obstacles, Hashim Amla and Dean Elgar, on a wearing day but their position was a parlous one.

Barring New Zealand’s outstanding achievement in 1973, when they made 440 in the fourth innings, but lost in the process, no side has ever made 350 batting last in Nottingham. That was the extent of England’s task.

Amla, so relaxed in making 87 from 180 balls, might have been a prized professor at a school of meditation. Not that it was doing much to de-stress the England attack as South Africa’s lead slowly advanced. His passivity told not of negativity but of an inner certainty that a South African win would ultimately unfold before him.

His demise was somewhat unexpected. Joe Root had been markedly reluctant to bowl his spinners, especially Liam Dawson, who had been despatched with ease by Amla in two overs before lunch. But with the seamers needing time to graze before the second new ball, Dawson had to return and he had Amla lbw advancing well down the pitch to hit him down the ground.

Umpire Paul Rieffel had no option but to turn down the appeal, just as it was no surprise to find upon England’s review that ball-tracking technology suggested the ball would hit middle, halfway up. Dawson deserved it, if only for the precision of his review signal to his captain – the ‘T’ signal perfectly formed – which was either symptomatic of a Test cricket newbie eager to do things right or merely a young man of fastidious nature.

That wicket apart, another capacity crowd in Nottingham bore its fate to be present on an attritional day stoutly. The biggest cheer came for a bespectacled man with a mallet who had to attend to Ben Stokes’ footholes. Stokes bowled a decent, aggressive spell without reward. There was little movement for Stuart Broad or James Anderson and Mark Wood, the weakest of the quartet, has yet to find the 90mph threat that England crave.

While they attempted to rectify their shortcomings of the first two days, criticism was easy to find. Graeme Smith, a former South African captain and a batsman who knew something about crease occupation, termed England’s first innings “glory cricket”. Geoffrey Boycott, another adhesive opening batsman of repute, was in the mood to collar anybody in his range to lecture them about defensive batsmanship.

It felt a bit misleading. England had hared along at four an over as they conceded a first-innings lead of 130, but none of their top-six batsmen, with the possible exception of Joe Root, had been dismissed because of attacking intent. Whether they had been dismissed because of a lack of defensive excellence was an altogether different matter.

Whatever the assessment, England were up against it as they began the third day. South Africa’s lead of 205, with nine wickets remaining, was already substantial. By lunch it had swollen by another 85. England needed wickets, and quickly, but they had to make do with Elgar, prised out for 80 with lunch 20 minutes away and Quinton de Kock, whose danger was defused an over later with only a single to his name.

There was nothing frivolous about the stand of 135 in 36 overs (it felt slower) between Elgar and Amla that batted South Africa into a position of authority.

Amla drained England by sitting in and waiting, taking boundaries from only the loosest deliveries; it was hard to remember a play-and-miss. Elgar ground forward with occasional watchful off-side drives and deflections to third man, some of them secure, some of them not. He set the tone in the opening over of the morning with a boundary in that region off Broad and raised his fifty by thick-edging Anderson low through third slip.

England had fleeting chances to remove both of them in the opening forays. Criticised for their wanton waste of reviews, this time England missed one. When Broad flicked Amla’s outside edge, on 25, the only half-appeal came from Alastair Cook at first slip. Even Broad looked confused as to whether he should appeal, which does not often happen. TV replays showed the slightest contact.

Elgar’s escape, on 55, came in the shape of a fantastic leaping effort at gully by Anderson, who got a hand on the ball as it flashed by on his left-hand side. Hardly a chance, but frustration nonetheless.

The appearance of spin sparked Amla into life. He came down the pitch dismissively in Dawson’s first over, a reconnaissance effort which brought a boundary. He took 14 off Dawson’s second over, capped by an effortless straight six to raise his fifty. He scored 38 all morning and half of them came in those two Dawson overs. Not the best time for Dawson to strike up a casual conversation with an England seamer. By tea, Amla’s wicket in the book, he had the right to a sentence or two.

Statistics insist that Elgar is much more vulnerable to right-arm quicks coming around the wicket – strikingly so, with an average of 27 compared to 70-plus, and Broad in particular was desirous to take advantage.

But Elgar had 80 by the time Stokes added another around-the-wicket dismissal to the records. It was a good aggressive bouncer, uncomfortably spooned aside in front of his face and easily caught by Anderson at square leg.

De Kock’s wicket in the following over brought England more cheer, Anderson angling one across him and finding enough movement to find an edge and a simple catch for Jonny Bairstow.

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Source: ESPN Crickinfo