England suffer batting collapse as South Africa seize control of second Test

South Africa wrested control of the second Test against England after a wretched batting collapse looked to cost the hosts dearly on a topsy-turvy day two at Trent Bridge that saw no fewer than 15 wickets fall.

James Anderson had initially looked to put Joe Root's side in the ascendancy after a dogged late partnership between Vernon Philander and Chris Morris had stemmed their momentum on Friday evening, wreaking havoc in the swinging conditions after an early ball change and decimating the Proteas' tail-end.

The veteran Lancashire paceman finished the first innings with figures of 5-72, removing Philander in the first over of the day before South Africa could add to their overnight score of 309-6 and following that up with the dismissals of Keshav Maharaj, Morris and Morne Morkel.

The visitors were all out for 335 after losing their last four wickets for only 26 runs.

England's batting line-up floundered in response, with openers Alastair Cook [3] and Keaton Jennings [0] removed in successive deliveries. It was only thanks to the continued brilliance of Root- and the occasional contribution from Gary Ballance - that they reached lunch without further loss at 85-2.

Ballance was bowled by Philander with the first delivery of the afternoon session and England were 143-4 when Root, who struck a 40-ball 50, was caught behind off Morkel. Ben Stokes had yet to contribute to the scoreboard when he fell victim to Maharaj and Jonny Bairstow soon followed after being outfoxed by the left-arm spinner five runs short of his own half-century.

After limping to tea at 183-6, England again lost two wickets in as many balls when Moeen Ali drove a shot straight at Faf du Plessis at cover and Stuart Broad was trapped lbw first ball by Morris.

Liam Dawson was caught after top-edging an attempted sweep and Mark Wood was the final domino to fall as England were cleaned up for 205 - still 130 runs short of their opponents. Maharaj and Morris were the pick of the bowlers for South Africa, taking 3-21 and 3-38 respectively.

Trevor Bayliss' side needed an early wicket and they got one when Anderson again intervened to coax a little nick off Heino Kuhn [8] that was taken by Root in the slips. Dean Elgar sustained a painful blow to the arm in the penultimate over as he and Hashim Amla scored 38 and 23 respectively to guide buoyant South Africa to stumps at 75-1 with a lead of 205 and nine wickets still in hand.

England currently lead the four-match series 1-0 after a dominant 211-run win at Lord's last week.