Following a horrible collapse in the first Test, South Africa bounced in fine style after beating England by 340 runs at Trent Bridge to level the series at 1-1. Man of the Match performance from Vernon Philander, with both bat and ball ensured that England were bowled out out before tea on day four of the second Test.
In their first innings, the Proteas put on 335 on the back of fifties from Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock and Vernon Philander. In reply, the hosts were bundled out for 205 and the visitors made them pay by setting them a stiff target of 474 for victory. England never really got going and were bundled out for 133 inside two sessions on day four.
Joe Root
Contrasting emotions in the last couple of weeks. I suppose it's all about how we respond from here. It is important that we stay tight. We don't have to dwell too much on this. There are areas we have to improve and take positives from here. It's difficult, South Africa reacted to conditions better than we did. We are going to learn from that. It is obviously disappointing, credit to them for playing the way they did.
(About the form of the top three) I don't think it is a concern, I am sure they will spend sometime there and get runs. (On Mark Wood) It has been a tough week for him. He worked extremely hard throughout the game. Could not get wickets, hopefully he will be fit for selection. We have to sit down on selection and make sure we are happy with what we have going into the next Test. We are going to make sure that we improve and get better.
Faf du Plessis
I just thought we did our basics better. We put England under pressure for a longer period of time. It was important for us after Russell (coach) left us. It is always tough after something like that. We just focused on getting back to things we have done better in the past. There was intensity in the way we played. We let England dominate in the last game. In this Test it was important for us to get into a position of strength and keep that for long.
We did brilliantly and never lost the momentum. Hashim's partnership with Kuhn was important in the first session. It did not matter how many runs they were scoring. It was about absorbing the pressure. The way Morkel bowled, that's the best I have seen him bowl in recent times. He did not take many wickets but maintained the pressure, and Maharaj as well. Ideally, as soon as the next Test comes, that would be better but at the same time it also gives some time for us to get away from games and relax and make sure we get back with same intensity (whether a nine-day gap is required).
Vernon Philander
Here are the reactions from the cricket fraternity:
Andrew Flintoff:
AB de Villiers:
Michael Vaughan:
James Taylor:
Graeme Smith:
Dale Steyn:
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