Proteas reeling after one of their darkest Test days

About 18 months ago, the Proteas couldn’t buy a run in the Test series against India.

The eventual outcome was a depressing 3-0 series loss.

Now, it would be rather melodramatic to compare the Proteas’ collapse at The Oval on Friday to those dark times but there’s no doubt their batting overall remains wobbly.

South Africa finished the second day of the third Test on 126/8, already staring defeat in the face given that they’re still 27 runs away from merely avoiding the follow-on.

England made 353 in their first innings.

Remember, this batting order also collapsed in the second innings at Lord’s.

To make matters worse, they’re currently playing with only 10 men after Vernon Philander had to be taken to hospital for tests.

The stocky seamer had already struggled with a stomach bug on the first day and intermittently left the field.

However, on Friday he only lasted 40 minutes before exiting the fray for the rest of the day.

Team management confirmed that his “symptoms had worsened” and that “further treatment” was required.

Given that Philander had superb figures of 2/32 up to that point, it was clear that the Proteas missed his bowling.

Yet South Africa also missed his batting, which has been excellent in this series … and, more importantly, calm.

Instead, Philander had to witness how his teammates crumbled against English debutant seamer Toby Roland-Jones.

Inspired by a quickfire 25 as a tailender, the 29-year-old boasted impressive figures of 4/39.

Roland-Jones’ first victim was Dean Elgar (8), who managed a faint edge off a good length delivery before he trapped Heino Kuhn (15) in front with a full one.

But his ball to dismiss Hashim Amla (6) was special, a short one that kept climbing and left the Proteas’ bearded stalwart hopelessly fending.

He also had Quinton de Kock caught in the gully.

With the experienced Jimmy Anderson (2/16) providing expert support, the Proteas simply couldn’t deal with the onslaught.

It was only the grit of Temba Bavuma, who stood firm for 34, and Kagiso Rabada (30) that provided some resistance.

Earlier, the Proteas bowlers coped reasonably well without Philander.

Morne Morkel (3/70) and Rabada (3/85) were headline acts but South Africa couldn’t contain the impressively adaptable Ben Stokes.

The all-rounder anchored the lower order effort well before exploding towards his century, ending with a brilliant 112.

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