Bairstow narrowly misses out on equalling record...
Sunday 17 January 2016 14:53, UK
Stuart Broad's mesmerising 6-17, during which he took 5-1 from 31 balls, and England winning their series against South Africa with a game to spare were two things to take home from the third Test in Johannesburg.
But what else deserves a mention after a fun-filled three days in the Highveld? Here's our top five…
Full impact
Bumpers just didn't get the job done at Wanderers. Sure, Morne Morkel had Steve Finn caught behind gloving a pinpoint bouncer and Stuart Broad occasionally whistled the ball around batsman's ears during his devastating, and series-deciding spell - but it was the full delivery that created havoc.
Finn proved that when he dismissed Hashim Amla with a pitched-up pearler in South Africa's first innings, while the majority of wickets taken by Protea quick Kagiso Rabada during his maiden Test five-for were with full deliveries, Joe Root and Alex Hales two of the players to snick him behind.
By contrast, the short stuff was frequently walloped, with Root and Ben Stokes giving back-of-a-length deliveries the treatment en route to sharing a crucial stand of 111 in just 15.5 overs and South Africa's tail doing the same when England lost their radar.
Root master
The Wanderers pitch was a corking one for Test cricket - and something we'd love to see more of around the world in an age of sterile surfaces - with bowlers given assistance if they used their noggins. Root seemed to enjoy batting on it, though, looking a class above any other batter as he notched his ninth ton in Test cricket and, according to the man himself, his best.
The Yorkshireman (110) strode to the crease with England 22-2 in reply to South Africa's 313, playing in a pedestrian manner by his standards first up to stabilise the innings and then accelerating when he was joined by the swashbuckling Stokes (58 from 54) at 91-4. Root smoked 16 boundaries on a bowler-friendly surface to increase his Test average to 55.16 and move up to second spot in the ICC batting rankings. A man with no visible weaknesses, it is hard to see his sumptuous form stopping anytime soon.
Haves and have nots
In Root, England have a young batsman at the top of his game who digs them out of taxing situations. In Stokes, they have a match winner with bat and ball. In Broad, they have a man capable of ripping apart any batting line-up. South Africa have had had none of those things in this series.
The Proteas' batting, save for their 600-run haul in Cape Town, has been below par, over-reliant on Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers with the likes of Stiaan van Zyl and Faf du Plessis hopelessly out of sorts, while they are shorn of an all-rounder to give them balance now that Jacques Kallis, a scourge of international sides for the best part of two decades, has retired.
South Africa have missed injured and aging quicks Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander, too, with only Rabada offering great hope for the future on that front. The gun players belonged to England and stood up at crucial times.
Quality catching
Jonny Bairstow followed up his maiden Test century in Cape Town with six first-innings catches at Wanderers to silence some of his critics. The wicketkeeper applied himself excellently at altitude, though missed out on equalling a Test record seven catches in an innings when he spilled Morne Morkel early on day two.
Bairstow would have had designs on matching the Test record 11 catches in a match by a wicketkeeper, secured on the same ground by England's Jack Russell in 1995 and reluctant gloveman De Villiers against Pakistan in 2013, but that was not to be as James Taylor prospered at short leg.
We knew the diminutive Midlander was a good catcher close to the wicket - it's probably that low centre of gravity thing - but we perhaps didn't know he was this good. Taylor's lightning reactions to dismiss Amla and one-handed snatch to oust Dane Vilas were superb.
Nasser's analysis
We work Nasser Hussain hard here at Sky Sports. Not only do we ask him to comment on the action unfolding in South Africa but we also plonked him in front of the Sky Cart and in the Zone to analyse it.
The former England skipper did a fine job - when doesn't he? - during the third Test, examining why the full ball was key at Wanderers, how Alastair Cook's 'heavy head' leads to him getting caught down the leg side, and why Cook's partner, Alex Hales, needs to get a bigger stride in at the crease to flourish as a Test opener.
Nass then moved on to podcast duty, asking Rob Key the key questions about England's series win, before heading back to Blockers Avenue for a breather. We also enjoyed more cricketing musings from Bumble, including when he took the time to shine the shoes of Messrs Ward, Atherton and Botham and revealed the word on the street…
Watch the fourth Test between South Africa and England from 8am, Friday, Sky Sports 2.
