South Africa v England, 3rd Test Day Three: Five Things We Learned

England bowled South Africa out for 83 and went on to claim victory on day three of the third test. But what three things did we learn from a dramatic day?

MAN OF THE DAY – STUART BROAD [12.1-6-17-6]

He did it again. You know, that thing where he turns the ball into grenade on a Yo-Yo and destroys whole Test nations in one spell of demonic hell fire. An entire top six were accounted for in Broad’s figures: some bested by late movement, some bested by bounce – all powerless to do anything to stop him. Since 2009, there have been eight recorded #BroadStreaks and this one – taking five for five in eight overs, with one of the runs conceded the result of a dropped catch – is one of his best. He has often been classified as a good fast bowler capable of great spells. But now those spells are occurring more regularly – we’ve had three in the last 12 months – and it’s about time we rightly celebrate Broad as a world class bowler. After all, his success today took him to third on the list of England’s greatest wicket-takers.

83 ALL OUT

South Africa looked an absolute shambles, and that’s not too harsh a critique. Not just today but throughout this series, barring their first innings reply at Cape Town, they have shown a lack of backbone and a handful of players who expect the tough work to be done by others. That being said, Broad’s mammoth 10-over spell not only hammered the opposition into the ground but it also lifted his team-mates. James Anderson struggled early on but pulled himself up a notch to finish his opening partner’s good work, while Ben Stokes produced some high class swing bowling that, one another day, might have seen him take the spoils. A thrilling effort with the ball was backed up by some excellent ground fielding and some A-grade catching.

TAYLOR’S HOT TAKES

You won’t find any jokes about James Taylor’s height here (all the good ones have been taken, and even those are pretty rubbish). But his work at short leg (steady) was excellent. The catch to dismiss Hashim Amla was perhaps the perfect exhibition of what is required when you’re that close in on the legside: he stayed low, but on the tips of his toes and only had eyes for the bat, reacting as it twisted in Amla’s hands to offer him a chance low down, which he cupped perfectly. The second was just great reflexes, as Dane Vilas mistimed one off Steven Finn and Taylor dove to his right and plucked the ball out of thin air with one hand.

CHANGE THINGS UP?

Anderson looked like he didn’t have much zing left in the tank and it emerged during England second innings that Steven Finn is suffering from a thigh injury, which will be assessed by a specialist tomorrow. Do England fancy shaking things up for Centurion? They’ve done so in the past and giving Anderson a rest at every available opportunity is no bad thing. Same too for Finn, a prominent member of the limited overs attack, who needs white ball cricket ahead of the World T20 in India. With that in mind, it would be nice to see Mark Footitt given a go. His speed and form over the last two years suggests he is at his peak as a bowler. Let’s find out if he has what it takes for the highest level.

COMPO’S SECOND COMING

Nick Compton’s second coming has, so far, been a success considering he won the first match of this series with scores of 87 and 49. But the very fact that he decided to come down the wicket and smash Dean Elgar out of the ground, for a six that would have won the match, was all sorts of brilliant. That he fluffed his lines and skied high, and was caught out by Morne Morkel, who had all the grace of a blind man feeling for his cane, was even better. A touching moment of ineptitude on what, by and large, has been a good return to Test cricket for him.