Anderson ended the day with figures of 4-33 off 15 overs
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
England pace bowler James Anderson took advantage of bowling on his home ground of Old Trafford as he carved through South Africa’s batting line-up to leave them in all sorts of trouble going into the third day of the fourth Test.
Starting off the day on 260/6, England lost Toby Roland-Jones early on for four runs, while Moeen Ali only made 14 runs before being dismissed by Kagiso Rabada.
Stuart Broad fell shortly after, but Jonny Bairstow kept on fighting and dominated the last-gasp 50-run partnership he put together with Anderson.
However, just as Bairstow was within touching distance of his hundred, he was given out lbw off the bowling of Keshav Maharaj for 99, which came off 145 balls and included 14 boundaries and a six. As a result of Bairstow’s wicket, England were bowled out for 362.
Bairstow fell one run short of his fourth Test century
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Rabada was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Maharaj, Morne Morkel and Duanne Olivier chipped in with two wickets apiece.
Trailing by 362 runs, South Africa were dealt a major blow on the third ball of their innings as opener Dean Elgar was given out lbw off the bowling of Anderson for a duck.
Just as the Proteas were beginning to recover, Roland-Jones got rid of Hashim Amla for 30, while Heino Kuhn only managed to make 24 before he was removed by Moeen.
Temba Bavuma and captain Faf du Plessis temporarily kept England at bay with a 47-run partnership before Bavuma was clean bowled by Anderson for 46.
Du Plessis suffered the same fate two balls later, and this led to South Africa’s collapse as Theunis de Bruyn, Maharaj and Quinton de Kock were sent packing in quick succession.
To make matters worse, on the third ball of the last over of the day, Broad took out Rabada for 23, which capped off a disastrous day for the tourists.
Anderson was the most successful bowler with four wickets, while Broad and Moeen took two, and Roland-Jones claimed one.
South Africa ended day two on 220/9 and will continue batting on Sunday at 11:00 local time or 10:00 GMT.