Tea England 353 and 313 for 8 dec (Bairstow 63, Westley 59, Root 50, Maharaj 3-50) lead South Africa 175 (Bavuma 52, Roland-Jones 5-57) by 491 runs
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Westley, Roland-Jones make case for county recruits
England set South Africa 492 to win in the third Test at The Oval, leaving themselves four sessions to bowl them out and go 2-1 up in the series with one to play. Joe Root’s first declaration as an England captain was a conservative one, but the weather forecast was good and he could anticipate an extended final session on the fourth day.
England received little charity from the South African attack as they moved gradually to a tea-time declaration on a slow surface. Bolstered by a first-innings lead of 178, they might have fancied the chance to strut their stuff, but South Africa sought to slow their progress as the first stage in trying to save the game.
Only when Jonny Bairstow, with a run-a-ball fifty, and a twisted ankle in the process, emerged in mid-afternoon did England find a final dash. He added 49 in eight overs with Ben Stokes, Stokes planting Chris Morris into the stands at cow corner before Morris struck his stumps later in the over as he attempted further mayhem.
South Africa, for all their persistence, never threatened to run through the England order. Kagiso Rabada posed most threat and Morne Morkel looked, as he has all summer, on the verge of some special figures. As for Vernon Philander, he was still under the weather and incorporated 15 overs in his regular toilet breaks.
By the declaration, made when Bairstow holed out at long-off, Maharaj had only bowled 13.5 overs. For all the encouragement for the seamers, his left-arm spin might have been more extensively used, especially with Morris down on pace and accuracy from the previous Test at Trent Bridge. During this Test, Morris has disappeared at nearly six an over.
An abstemious maiden Test fifty by Tom Westley was the centrepiece of a heedful morning. Westley only contributed 22 out of 79 to England’s total in the session, but there was again a grace in his game that made him eminently watchable even when not scoring quickly.
Some batsmen, such as Stokes, encourage roars of approval; cheers for Root are sourced in admiration; Westley, if he prospers, will bring sighs of pleasure.
Maharaj then intervened with two wickets in successive overs early in the afternoon. He spotted Westley’s advance down the pitch, on 59, and found enough turn to beat his outside edge for de Kock to complete the stumping. Root also reached 50, but then swept him to deep square.
Dawid Malan is as off-side dominant as Westley, a fellow debutant, favours the leg side. His second-innings dismissal carried a reminder of what had gone before. Then he was cleaned up by an inswinging yorker from Kagiso Rabada. He again fell prey to the ball coming back sharply into his pads, falling lbw to Morris, a wicket only won by South Africa on review.
After Root rejected his final chance for a declaration before tea, taking a conservative attitude to a lead of 442, Moeen Ali was run out by a direct hit at the non-striker’s end from Temba Bavuma, who dashed in in from deep midwicket as Moeen sauntered a second run. Toby Roland-Jones then had some fun larruping Dean Elgar’s left-arm slows as South Africa ran out of bowling options.
Keaton Jennings’ England career remains in doubt. He is without a Test half-century in six knocks. Rabada surprised him with a bouncer, on 48, and won a lobbed catch to gully off the glove as Jennings failed to drop his hands quickly enough.
Rabada has the capacity to bowl an excellent shock ball whether it is the sort of yorker that unhinged Malan in the first innings or the bouncer, by far the shortest ball he had bowled in the England innings, which removed Jennings.
Nevertheless, Jennings’ statuesque style is bound to be bringing growing concern for England’s selectors ahead of an Ashes tour in Australia this winter. Stick with Jennings, return to Haseeb Hameed, who has had a poor season and who currently is playing no meaningful cricket at all as the NatWest Blast dominates schedules, or make a late pitch for Mark Stoneman, uncapped and frequently ignored? No decision is entirely appealing.
Jennings added 14 on the third morning, but his two boundaries off Morkel were unconvincing, thick edges which told of his unease.
Westley had challenges of his own to contend with. It has not taken South Africa long to cotton on to his strengths. Indeed, such is the constant analysis of a new England player that it would have been no surprise if a Romanian plasterer had wandered up to him on the platform at Bank as England travelled to the game by tube and said: “You must be Tom Westley: you’re the one with the strong leg-side game.”
Resuming on 28, under overcast skies, he did not bring up his first Test half-century until 10 minutes before lunch, courtesy of the shot that he must have been aching to unveil all morning, a graceful clip through midwicket against Morkel that, as much as any other shot in his armoury, exudes quality. He had also dispatched Rabada in similar manner earlier in the session, taking the ball from outside off stump.
That apart, South Africa hammered away around fourth or fifth stump. An early play and miss at Rabada convinced him to reel in his off-side drive. The next time his outside edge was beaten, by Morris, it was 12.30pm. There was enough time in the game for him to play in restrained fashion and he had the intelligence to do just that.
David Hopps is a general editor at ESPNcricinfo @davidkhopps
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo