Watchful batting by Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla yesterday allowed South Africa to extend their lead to 290 in the second Test, but two quick wickets before lunch gave England a faint hope of forcing their way back into the match at Trent Bridge.
South Africa resumed on 75-1 on the third day, with Amla on 23 and Elgar 38, and the pair put on 135 for the second wicket — the first time they have shared a three-figure partnership in 27 attempts — before Elgar was caught by Jimmy Anderson fending off a short ball by Ben Stokes for 80.
Although the dangerous Amla remained unbeaten on 61 as South Africa reached 160-3, Anderson then brought a new dynamic to proceedings by having Quinton de Kock caught behind for one.
With the conditions continuing to make batting difficult, England knew they had to take early wickets and they would rue the basic error that allowed Amla to escape at 91-1 when they failed to review an edge to the keeper off Stuart Broad.
Neither bowler nor keeper looked convinced, but television replays picked up the slightest of edges, giving Amla the chance to make England pay by passing his second fifty of the match.
SRI LANKA, ZIMBABWE
AFP, COLOMBO
Batsmen Sikandar Raza and Peter Moor helped Zimbabwe regain lost ground after a top-order collapse and stretch their second innings lead over Sri Lanka to 136 in the one-off Test in Colombo yesterday.
The visitors were 126 for five at tea on day three, with Raza (45) and Peter Moor (30) putting on an unbeaten 67-run stand for the sixth-wicket a the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium.
Raza lifted Zimbabwe from a precarious 23-4, followed by 59-5, after Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Rangana Herath rattled the visitors’ top-order with four wickets.
Herath, who got three wickets in the second session of play, bowled Sean Williams for 22, as Zimbabwe teetered dangerously close to losing their 10-run advantage.
Earlier, skipper Graeme Cremer helped Zimbabwe take the lead after claiming his maiden five-wicket haul in a Test, helped bowl Sri Lanka for 346 in the morning session.
However, it was Herath’s left-arm spin that undid the fine work from leg-spinner Cremer (5-125).
Off-spinner Dilruwan Perera joined forces to get the prized wicket of first-innings centurion Craig Ervine for five at the stroke of lunch.
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