South Africa skipper Hashim Amla unbeaten on 157 at stumps...
Tuesday 5 January 2016 09:44, UK
Sunday was Ben Stokes' day, Monday was South Africa's.
The Proteas began day three of the second Test trailing England by a whopping 488 runs after Stokes' belligerent 258 and Jonny Bairstow's maiden Test ton had seen the tourists declare on 629-6 on Sunday.
However, South Africa reduced their arrears to 276 by stumps on Monday after shipping just one wicket, with Hashim Amla unbeaten on 157 - the 32-year-old notching his 24th Test hundred - and AB de Viilliers dismissed for 88, the batsmen moving past 7,000 and 8,000 Test runs respectively during their knocks.
But the hosts, who were thumped by 241 runs in the first Test in Durban, were aided by a clutch of dropped catches from England, with Amla spilled on 76 by James Anderson at slip and on 120 by Nick Compton at point, a day after Joe Root shelled De Villiers when he had scored five.
Steve Finn picked up the only wicket to fall on day three - Anderson pouching at midwicket at the second time of asking after de Villiers mis-timed a pull - with Amla following up his 183-run stand with AB by adding an unbroken 85-run partnership with Faf du Plessis (51no) as South Africa closed on 353-3.
England even turned to that renowned spinner Alex Hales in search of a breakthrough. He didn't get one, surprisingly...
Hit the video above to watch the best of the day three action - and then catch live coverage of day four from 8am, Tuesday, Sky Sports 2.
