A record run-chase is unlikely at Trent Bridge as the Proteas close in on levelling the series.
The highest successful run-chase in history is West Indies’ 418-7 against Australia back in 2003, and England will break the record by 56 runs if they pull off the unthinkable. There’s more chance of this game being done inside four days than England getting any sort of result out of this.
Hashim Amla has been in a different class to the rest in this match. His 78 and 87 marked the first time in seven years that he’s got a pair of fifties in an away Test match, headlining a contest that has seen the Proteas outclass their opponents with both bat and ball.
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The first ball of England’s run-chase might well be a sign of things to come. Alastair Cook successfully overturned an lbw decision against him, but it’s going to take a resistance effort of record-breaking proportions for Cook, as well as his opening partner Keaton Jennings, to see off the next 180 overs. There’s unpredictable bounce and it’s starting to aid the spinners. As Gary Lemke put in his day three analysis, it’s not a matter of England needing 474 to win, it’s a matter of South Africa needing 10 wickets to win.
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Photo: Philip Brown/Getty Images
