Hashim Amla ducks a short-pitched delivery during his innings of 49 © Getty Images
South Africa were in trouble early on Day Four of the fourth Test against England, reaching a score of 121 for four at lunch with Hashim Amla batting steadily on 50. James Anderson dismissed both Stephen Cook (25) and AB de Villiers (0) in a space of a few deliveries to push them on the backfoot, before Ben Stokes struck towards the closing stages of the first session to break the 57-run stand between Amla and JP Duminy, dismissing the latter for 29. South Africa, though have a lead of 254 at the moment, and Amla will target a score of at least 250 in this innings with some support from the in-form Temba Bavuma (9 not out off 27 balls) and Quinton de Kock in order to set England a challenging total. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: South Africa vs England 2015-16, 4th Test at Centurion, Day 4
Cook, who scored a memorable century on debut in the first innings of this Test, was the first man to be dismissed in the morning, getting an outside edge off an outswinger from Anderson. South African stand-in skipper de Villiers, who took over the leadership role from Amla after the second Test, was dismissed barely a couple of balls later after an inswinger from Anderson struck him on the front pad. De Villiers went for the review almost immediately, but failed to get the decision reversed as he departed for his third consecutive duck. LIVE CRICKET UPDATES: South Africa vs England 2015-16, 4th Test at Centurion, Day 4
With the Proteas losing two quick wickets without adding a run, the hosts were dreading another spectacular collapse akin to that at the Wanderers in in the previous match. Amla however, persisted despite hostile spells from Anderson and Stokes, with the former finally showing destructive form after a lot of criticism by getting movement both ways. Amla and Duminy kept scoring steady runs, with the latter going after Moeen Ali, smashing him for two fours and a six.
Stokes however, returned to the attack, and induced Duminy to get an outside edge while attempting a cover drive to break the 57-run stand that was beginning to very threatening for Alastair Cook’s men. At the time of the close of play, Bavuma appeared settled at the crease, having despatched a couple of boundaries so far. Amla brought up his 29th Test fifty with a single minutes before the declaration of lunch.
Brief scores:
South Africa 475 (Stephen Cook 115, Hashim Amla 109, Temba Bavuma 35, Quinton de Kock 129*; Ben Stokes 4 for 86) and 121 for 4 (Stephen Cook 25, Hashim Amla 50*, JP Duminy 29; James Anderson 3 for 21, Ben Stokes 1 for 16) lead England 342 (Alastair Cook 76, Joe Root 76, Ben Stokes 33, Moeen Ali 61; Kagiso Rabada 7 for 112) by 254 runs.
(Amit Banerjee, a reporter at CricketCountry, takes keen interest in photography, travelling, technology, automobiles, food and, of course, cricket. He can be followed on Twitter via his handle @akb287)