Root leads England to brink of win

PORT ELIZABETH, January 19

Captain Joe Root led from the front as ruthless England took 10 wickets on Day 4 to move to the brink of victory in the third Test with South Africa reeling on 102/6 in their second innings.

Root claimed Test-best figures of 4/31 and was ably assisted by Stuart Broad and Mark Wood as South Africa ended the fourth day still 188 runs adrift.

England need four more wickets to win their 500th overseas Test and take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series, while the beleaguered home team will need to bat out the entire day, a task that looks near impossible given they have run out of recognised batsmen.

Vernon Philander (13) and Keshav Maharaj (5) will resume on Day 5.

England started the day with immediate success and kept up the stranglehold despite a lengthy delay for rain. South Africa were in deep trouble when they resumed on 208/6 in their first innings, still 291 behind England’s mammoth 499/9 declared. — Reuters

Brief Scores: South Africa: 209 and 102/6 (Root 4/20); England: 499/9 decl.