Amla had scored only 150 combined in his previous 10 innings but returned to form in fine style with his 24th Test century and Finn said: “He’s calm, even when I thought I had run him out at the non-striker’s end he was just standing there saying “I don’t think I’m out”. But Finn caused discomfort from the start, his extra bounce unsettling de Villiers who produced an edge, cut and pull in quick succession, all of which fell short of expectant fielders.
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South Africa’s Hashim Amla plays a shot during the second cricket test match against England in Cape Town, South Africa, January 4, 2016.
That list of leading run scorers was further amended as De Villiers brought up 7000 runs as well, being fifth on the list behind the aforementioned trio and Gary Kirsten. The right-hander has worked hard on addressing a late trigger movement and the results are starting to take shape, even if his 2012 best, when at the Oval he became the first South African to score a Test triple century, is still a little way off. “England played really well and we needed a really resilient performance to get back in the test match, and that’s what we did”.
Where Stokes had teed off from ball one, South Africa were more than content to make a modest 58 in the first session. D Villiers (88) began the day with two boundaries in the first over, one of them streaky past the slips.
South Africa still trail the touring side by 276 runs, 77 short of avoiding the follow-on, with Amla on 157 and Faf du Plessis on 51.
Amla was then given another life on 120, Nick Compton the guilty party this time after shelling a chance at point off the bowling of Finn.
“Hashim has put in a lot of hard work in the nets”.
Amla and De Villiers resumed on 141 for two and extended their partnership to 183, giving South Africa a foothold in the game after England declared on a massive total of 629 for six on a second day of record-breaking batting.
But overall, England still had control of the test and the series, and South Africa face an uphill task.
By contrast to the second day, when Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow thrashed 196 runs for England before lunch and 453 runs were scored in the day for the loss of three wickets, it was attritional cricket, with only 212 runs scored in 87 overs. With that innings total, and following England’s big win in the first test in Durban, the tourists had the Proteas under grinding pressure. Bowlers-and captains-have to box clever to get wickets on this pitch, and that’s exactly what England did. As it turned out, it was the only wicket to fall on the day.
After a string of low scores, du Plessis went on to register his half-century with a boundary to square leg which also brought up South Africa’s 350.
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