Tea South Africa 151 and 141 for 3 (Petersen 42*, van der Dussen 41*) trail England 415 for 9 dec by 123 runs
Rassie van der Dussen defied the pain of a fractured left index finger as he and Keegan Petersen pieced together a defiant unbroken stand of 87, spanning the entirety of the afternoon session at Emirates Old Trafford, as England were forced into a holding pattern after a dominant start to the third day of the second Test.
After conceding a hefty first-innings deficit of 264, South Africa looked destined for a swift demise when they lost their first three wickets inside 14 overs of the morning session. But, with watchfulness to the fore, Petersen and van der Dussen set their sights on survival in the first instance, as they ground out a 42.2-over stand that, by tea, had reduced those arrears to 123.
Despite the frustration of a wicketless session, England’s grip on the contest was not exactly loosened. With his spinner, Jack Leach, bowling dry from the James Anderson End, conceding 19 runs in as many overs, Ben Stokes was able to rotate his seamers with attacking fields, including two close catchers at silly mid-off and mid-on, and keep them fresh for the prospect of a second new ball midway through the evening session.
Nevertheless, it was a doughty display from South Africa’s middle-order pairing – neither of whom has yet made a Test century, but both of whom showed technical and temperamental excellence in drawing the sting, not only of England’s attack but an expectant Old Trafford crowd.
By tea, Petersen had been limited to a solitary boundary in his 152-ball stay – and that too came from a Joe Root full-toss as Stokes kept his options open. He was grateful for DRS early in his innings, after being given out caught-behind after Anderson zipped an unplayable delivery around his outside edge, and later poked the same bowler inches out of Ollie Pope’s reach at silly mid-on. But for the most part he was obdurate and organised, and content to play the long game in defence of South Africa’s series lead.
Van der Dussen was no less committed – and arguably even more so given his injury, the full extent of which hasn’t yet been confirmed. He arrived at the crease with South Africa creaking at 54 for 3 following the extraction of Aiden Markram, and was challenged for the most part by tight lines and full lengths as England forced him to defend his stumps and risk jarring his finger further.
He wasn’t afraid, however, to take the attack back to England when required, not least for the first of his five boundaries, a top-edged hook off Stuart Broad that flew away through fine leg. But Stokes in particular challenged him with reverse-swing, and, in the penultimate over of the session, he had a huge let-off on his tea-time score of 41 – a dangled bat outside off found the thinnest of nicks to the keeper, but England neglected to appeal.
It was all a far cry from England’s dominance of the day’s first hour, during which their three frontline seamers claimed a wicket apiece to raise the prospect of another three-day finish to the series.
South Africa had fought hard on the second evening, following England’s first-innings declaration, to reach 23 for 0 at the close. But that resilience was unpicked with haste upon the resumption, with their captain and linchpin Dean Elgar falling within 15 minutes of the resumption – brilliantly outfoxed by Anderson, whose 662nd Test wicket took him to 949 in all internationals, bringing him level with Glenn McGrath as the most prolific seamer across formats.
Opening up from his very own End, Anderson needed just four deliveries to line up Elgar and send him on his way for the sixth time in Test cricket. The third of those was every bit as complicit as the last – first, a wicked seaming delivery bit the pitch from round the wicket and lifted past Elgar’s splice, the the next, a fraction fuller, skidded straight past a now-crease-bound batter, to pluck out his off stump for 11.
Ollie Robinson was immediately brought back to the attack. After probing Sarel Erwee’s defences with consistent shape across his bows from over the wicket, including a low edge to second slip that Zak Crawley couldn’t quite reach, Robinson switched round for his third over of the morning, and found the perfect full length, with a hint of away movement to snick the edge through to Ben Foakes.
Throughout all of this, Broad was an eager bystander – relegated to first-change status for this match but gagging for his slice of the action when his turn finally came with the hour mark approaching. And within five balls, he seemed to have served up the ball of the Test so far – an unplayable bail-trimmer that kicked past Markram from a fractionally fuller length.
Unfortunately for Broad, if his length was fuller, then so too was his front foot – by a matter of millimetres, as the third umpire belatedly called the no-ball. Nonplussed but undeterred, Broad settled for bagging his man in his second over instead, as Markram chased a wider one that appeared to go through the top of the dry surface. Crawley gobbled the edge at second slip, but Broad pointedly curbed his enthusiasm until he’d received a thumbs-up from umpire Chris Gaffeney. His front foot had been given a clean bill of health, and South Africa were in disarray. By tea, however, they had shown their mettle, to force England to redouble their own efforts in response.
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket