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Tanveer Magray

One day after his name was inked into the fabric of Old Trafford, James Anderson stamped his mark on his new end and added a piece of folklore to it. Bowling from the James Anderson End, the fast bowler ripped through the South African middle order to take England closer to series victory. Only a miracle can save an incresingly shoddy-looking South African team from here.

The tourists closed the day on 220 for 9 in response to England’s first innings total of 362. Five of their top seven had passed 20 but Temba Bavuma’s 46 was their highest score. Once again the batsmen lacked the quality to keep their wicket in conditions that always offered something to the seamers. To ram home England’s advantage, and reward the spectators who stayed until the very end, Ben Stokes took an outrageous catch at gully to get rid of Kagiso Rabada (23) at the stroke of stumps.

Anderson’s record on his home ground had been solid without being spectacular, and the decision to name an end after him had more to do with his overall career. But on Saturday (August 5) he surged to his best figures at Old Trafford with a spell that typified his best traits.

The sun was out, the pitch was becoming flat, the ball was 38 overs old and the South Africans looked steady on 123 for 3 when Anderson arrived for his second spell. Yet he was able to find a hint of reverse, and as he moved the ball one way and then the other, the South African batsmen were left guessing. Temba Bavuma’s off-bail was tickled off by an inswinger as the batsman left it alone, Faf du Plessis played on two balls later, and then Theunis de Bruyn was caught at second slip off a classic awayswinger to cap a seven-over spell that yielded 3 for 13.

 

Brief Scores: South Africa 220/9 (Temba Bavuma 46; James Anderson 4-33) trail England 362 (Jonny Bairstow 99, Ben Stokes 58; Kagiso Rabada 4-91) by 142 runs.