South Africa levelled the four match Test series against England in emphatic fashion at Trent Bridge, with the Proteas beating their hosts by 340 runs inside four days.
Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel continued to impress with the ball and this time they had support from Chris Morris who chipped in with the wickets of Joe Root and Alastair Cook before lunch.
Philander who took five wickets in the match with figures of three for 24 in 10 overs on Monday, was voted man of the match.
With the pressure of the scoreboard firmly on them and a world record 474 for victory their target, England needed to bat for two full days to save the test match.
At the start of play, South Africa required 10 wickets from a minimum of 180 overs to level the series.
And it quickly became evident that the match would not go the distance. England lost four wickets in the first session.
Philander struck twice before Chris Morris accounted for key batsmen Alastair Cook for 42 and captain Joe Root for eight. The South African bowling unit was far from done.
Keshav Maharaj claimed the scalps of Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali just after lunch and then things went from bad to worse for the English.
Philander, who was very impressive in this test, dismissed Ben Stokes for 18 his third wicket of the day.
Duanne Olivier took the last two wickets as England was bowled out in less than two sessions and for just 133 runs.
Proteas Captain, Faf Du Plessis said, “This test match was important for us. If we get ourselves to a position of strength how long can we force that period of almost dominating the opposition to stay on our side and I thought we did that brilliantly.”
South Africa will look to replicate their 2nd Test all-round performance when the two teams meet again in the third test at the Oval on the 27 of June.
Don’t miss England at Edgbaston
The UK’s first ever Day/Night Test Match will take place at Edgbaston on Thursday 17 – Monday 21 August and we can’t wait to welcome Joe Root, Moeen Ali and the rest of the England squad as well as the new and exciting West Indies team. Demand on tickets has been huge with day two and three of the verge of selling out. We recommend spectators purchase their tickets as soon as possible to avoid any disappointment.
Tickets are on sale priced at just £6 for Under 16s and £26 for Adults
