South Africa vs England report: Jimmy Anderson’s hard work in vain as tourists left hanging on

The latest report on the fourth day of the fourth Test

Hashim Amla in action (GETTY IMAGES)

For a few stirring moments, England threatened to turn the match on its head. Jimmy Anderson was back in his pomp, making the ball talk as in days of yore, bowling faster than anyone else in the team.

He took two wickets in three balls. Could it be that England, from nowhere, could sweep South Africa aside, with the lead only 182, and leave a chase that was not only attainable but almost comfortable?

The stark answer to that lay in the scoreboard at the close of the fourth day in the fourth and final Test. England were 52 for 3 after batting for 90 minutes, sufficient time for two international careers to become the cause of endless debate in the months ahead. The tourists trailed by 330 runs and will have to negotiate 98 overs today to keep their 2-0 lead in the series. The notion of a surprising victory to make it 3-0 is now far removed from all thoughts.

It was firmly extinguished by Hashim Amla, who played with a calm, unfussy serenity until being dismissed four runs short of becoming the 14th player twice to make hundreds in each innings of a Test. He was given significant assistance by Temba Bavuma, whose realistic aspirations of a second century of the series were denied when South Africa declared on 248 for 5 following an hour’s break for rain.

England were left with 24 overs to bat. Manage them safely and a draw might not be too much to hope for on a fifth-day pitch. That hope lasted no longer than the fourth over, when Alex Hales was stuck on his crease to Kagiso Rabada and lbw.

Hales has scored 136 runs in his eight innings in this series, with one 50. He is the eighth opening partner for Alastair Cook in the last three years. The selectors will not be eager to admit that they have blundered yet again.

Cook, who has also had a lean series, went soon after, offering Morne Morkel a return catch which was accepted with alacrity. When Nick Compton launched a booming drive at Rabada – precisely the sort of shot he was picked not to play – England were in a mess. Compton opened this series with scores of 85 and 49. He has declined markedly since and simply not played as expected.

Somehow, England survived without further mishap but they know their chances of doing so for a further six hours are severely limited. Anderson, who has seen it all and done it all, said: “It will be a tough task, especially on that pitch, which has seen plenty of deterioration, with variable bounce and spin. But we’re going to give it a good go.”

Amla’s return to splendour has been fully confirmed after his travails in India late last year when he could hardly buy a run (there were 118 of them in total in seven innings). He was given significant assistance by Bavuma and the pair shared a steady, determined partnership of 117 for the fifth wicket.

The pitch’s definite tendency towards contrariness – for batsmen it can be a case of looking high, high, high before looking low, low, low – made their endeavours the more laudable. England, probing in the first two hours, were less so afterwards.

By and large, they resembled a team whose glories had already been established. After the impetus of the morning, they took on a laboured look, not least because South Africa had no sense of urgency, taking the view that there was plenty of time left in the match and that they may as well use it.

The equation of how many runs and how much time to leave England was complicated by the injury to Kyle Abbott’s left hamstring and the uncertainty about whether he would be fit enough to bowl. In the event, he took the field but South Africa still decided that it was wiser to grind out some runs and take at least two results (an England win and a tie) out of the reckoning. England, in their turn, would be happy to have less time to bat than might have been the case.

The day was barely four overs old when Anderson struck. He would have been delighted to make an impression. There have been quiet mutterings about Anderson lately and in some places loud ones. Before this match, it was widely assumed that AB de Villiers, South Africa’s captain, had Anderson in mind when he mused on how some of England’s bowlers were down on pace.

Anderson removed Stephen Cook by tempting him outside off stump. This was the sort of ball that Cook had left consistently in the first innings but his concentration might have lapsed momentarily by being forced to play in the overs before. Having moved that one away, two balls later Anderson produced a ball to De Villiers that cut sharply in at pace.

The lbw verdict was upheld after De Villiers’ plaintive review. He might reflect on how the game has a habit of making everyone look a touch silly from time to time. From the start of his Test career, De Villiers went 78 innings without registering a duck; now he has seven, three in a row and the dreaded pair in this match facing a mere two balls in each innings, the second of them to the man he traduced. Anderson was exultant.

“It did put a smile on the face, referring to the comments before the game, which was mentioned in the huddle,” said Anderson. “Those early breakthroughs gave us a sniff and we thought we could maybe bowl them out and leave a reasonable target. It wasn’t to be. I thought they played really well.”

If Amla was magisterial until persuaded to chase a wide one by Stuart Broad, trying for the four that would have brought his hundred, Bavuma lost nothing by comparison. In taxing conditions, he combined caution with skill. England will have to match them today to escape.