Indeed, the fourth day of this third Test as a whole looked like a microcosm of what it was: an absurd jumble of good spells of bowling in favorable conditions and some shambolic batting from both sides. England began by losing the last three wickets of their first innings in the space of 16 balls, before all 10 in South Africa’s second attempt fell in 56.2 overs. And while on the one hand you could praise the home side for not adding to that tally, it’s worth remembering that Lees fell off the very first ball of the chase and was nearly out in the eighth over. Crawley, faultless otherwise, fell to midwicket on 51, then got between the wicketkeeper and first slip. South Africa have managed just half a century between them, to England’s two centuries (Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes) and three fifties (both by Ollie Pope before Crawley’s effort) at the time of writing. Marco Jansen, who inexplicably missed the second Test, has the highest batting average for the Proteas at 27.33, which is more than double Joe Root’s – yes him – a miserable 11.50 from four innings. England as a whole had only four averages above 20 (Foakes 44.33, Pope 42.00, Stokes 37.25 and Jonny Bairstow 22.33) reaching this final innings. Lees and Crawley could join them if they finish work on Monday. Considering some of the shots we’ve seen this summer – good, bad and downright ugly – it’s clear that the messages from Stokes and the reinforcement from Brendon McCullum encouraged free-wheeling and, ultimately, embracing a little immaturity. While the latter has annoyed the traditionalists, perhaps they could take solace in the fact that England’s bowling has rarely been as mature and responsible as it is now. And because of their work after lunch, Monday’s return will be a short and sweet finale after a rewarding summer of graft. All 10 dismissals in South Africa on Sunday came within 111 runs, but the 58 that came first sets the scene appropriately. Dean Elgar and Sarel Erwee needed just 8.5 overs to wipe out the deficit of the first 40, with the glorious sunshine lighting up some risk-free play and leading to the slips, aided by some manageable lengths. CricViz recorded that 33% of England’s deliveries were fuller than 6 meters from the stumps in the first innings, yet only 19% were in that range in the first 11 overs of the second. By lunch, the only casualty was Erwee, who was eventually brought uncomfortably by Stokes with the third delivery of the innings (and the match). South Africa went into the break with a lead of 30, nine wickets in hand and far more of the game on their plates than they had 24 hours ago. And then came the shift. Suddenly, everything was a little tighter. Those loose deliveries that gave openers and No. 3 Keegan Petersen plenty of satisfaction were nowhere to be seen. “After lunch we had real intent,” Stuart Broad said. Shown. Everything looked a little smarter, too, and everything without the ball in hand, a little more open. Broad dug deep to create drama to such an extent that Elgar didn’t think to review a limbo against him sliding down. Even at bat, it just felt right. Pope took a sharp catch to his left at fourth slip to remove Petersen. Suddenly, the runs stopped – a hallmark of Khaya Zondo who bowled 23 deliveries to escape the mark – as England accelerated the game to their own ends. Wiaan Mulder, who had survival on his mind for his 69 minutes at the crease, was undone by extra bounce off his 52nd and final delivery as Ollie Robinson registered his maiden innings and 50 dismissals in just his 11th Test. No. 51 came when a little less bounce was made by Zondo, who swung on a leg before the dismissal. Ollie Robinson roars after a review that followed •AFP/Getty Images Then, of course, there was the obligatory monster spell from Stokes, with two wickets in 11 overs shared over tea. The former took them to the interval – bowling Marco Jansen after he had caught him (the Pope again) off a no-ball – the latter reached two deliveries after the break when he completed his delivery with Kagiso Rabada’s tame drive to Harry Brook in the cord. With that, England were back in control off Broad and James Anderson took it back in no uncertain terms with the final dismissal to leave South Africa speechless and bowled out for 169. “That was the best we’ve played as a unit all summer,” said Broad, 3 for 45 in his back pocket which not only has him as the leading wicket-taker in the series (14) and the summer (27) but also moved three times clear of Glenn McGrath and into fifth place on the all-time list with 566 dismissals. Perhaps Broad, at 36, will embody all that is working in the field under Stokes and McCullum. It starts, in a way, with parking any egos and wanting to do right by the team he embraced when he handed the new ball to Robinson. And it expands on the way it feels reinvigorated by field settings that are almost exclusively collectors rather than sweepers. As chaotic as the batting looks, the bowling patterns are like blitzing matches. England have won most of them this summer. “Baz’s mentality is you take the scoreboard completely out of the equation at all times so don’t worry about the economy rate, your mentality is always how do I get wickets in this? Which sounds very basic, obvious, but I’ve played under a lot of really good captains who were very much into economy pricing. “Well Strauss [Andrew Strauss] The number one rule was that you had to go under three an over to build the pressure and create pressure and wickets that way. And that worked and we made it really successful. But people like Steven Finn probably didn’t play as much Test cricket as they could have because of that philosophy, whereas that mentality from the start is, “How do you bat, what’s your way of getting a wicket”, so it was quite refreshing.” The revitalization in Broad’s voice is clear. Although he is expected to miss the Pakistan series before the birth of his first child, he seems very confident of continuing in the Ashes next summer. Credit, he believes, should go to the two responsible. It’s “fresh”, “refreshing” and “something without consequences, trying to play on the front foot all the time”. Everything we identify with Broad, basically. A music journalist once wrote the difference between Busted and Blink 182 was that one was a group of teenagers pretending to be musicians and the other was a group of musicians pretending to be teenagers. You don’t have to look too hard at the names in England and South Africa’s batting line-ups to see which of these XIs they should know better and which are still trying to learn. But there is no doubt ahead of one final dash to dot the ‘i’s and cross the ‘t’s for a sixth Test win of the summer that the reason England’s pop-punk brand of cricket has been so successful is the exemplary basic principles and the educated approach. of their bowlers. A group of right-wingers once criticized for being too much of the same are now one of the same: relentless, sharp and enjoying their cricket as never before. Vithushan Ehantharajah is Associate Editor for ESPNcricinfo
