England capitalise on South Africa mishaps as Moeen Ali leads the way with pulsating half-century

Moeen (67no) benefited from good fortune, when he was badly dropped at slip by Dean Elgar off Keshav Maharaj on 15, to hit seven fours and two sixes to revive England

Moeen Ali celebrates his half century for England on the third day (Getty)

As moments of symbolism go, the sight of Jonny Bairstow catching a huge six from Moeen Ali on England’s team balcony summed up the state of this final Test and the series.

South Africa’s bowlers had run in gamely for much of the day in a vain attempt at getting their team back in the match. At one point, with England 134 for six in their second innings and leading by 270, they looked like they might do just that.

However, five dropped catches, including Moeen on 15, have ultimately cost them any hope of engineering a winning position in a Test where victory is their only option coming into it as they did with a 2-1 deficit in the series.

By the time rain brought a premature end to the third day, England had reached 224 for eight, a lead of 360.

Jonny Bairstow plays a shot during his innings (Getty)

Moeen, whose huge six off Keshav Maharaj brought up his 11th Test half-century and gave Bairstow extra catching practice, remains unbeaten on 67 from 59 balls.

Tellingly, England added 90 runs during Moeen’s time at the crease to completely take the game away from South Africa.

Whenever the tourists start their second innings they will know they are pursuing a lost cause given the highest successful Test run chase on this ground is 284.

What will pain South Africa most, though, is the fact that their predicament is entirely self-inflicted.

Dean Elgar’s drop of Moeen, at slip off Maharaj, was the worst of the lot given the match situation and the fact he actually had the ball in his grasp before rolling over and then releasing it.

Duanne Olivier celebrates dismissing Ben Stokes (Getty)

Elgar actually got the ball rolling – or dropping – when he gave Keaton Jennings a life on nought.

The Durham opener went on to make a painstaking 18 from 63 balls before he was put of his misery by Kagiso Rabada, Hashim Amla taking the chance at slip following a terrible shot.

That dismissal means Jennings has scored just 127 runs in this series at an average of 15.87. Surely, he will now be dropped for the upcoming three-Test series against the West Indies.

However, Jennings is not the only batsman looking over his shoulder nervously. Indeed, England have major issues to resolve in their top six before this winter’s Ashes.

Tom Westley, caught at gully off Morne Morkel just like Alastair Cook had been shortly before, was another out to a poor shot. The Essex batsman is playing just his second Test and will be given time to prove himself at No3 given he scored a half-century on debut at The Oval last week.

Joe Root fine cuts a ball towards the boundary for England (Getty)

The same cannot be said of Dawid Malan, whose place must now be in jeopardy after his latest failure saw him make just six before offering a simple chance to Theunis De Bruyn at short leg off the bowling of Maharaj.

Malan, who has 35 runs at 8.75 in his first two Tests, was also dropped on three by Temba Bavuma in the deep after playing a wild shot to Rabada.

That was drop number two from South Africa on this third day.

But by the time Malan departed they had England wobbling on 72 for four – a lead of just 208.

Joe Root’s 57-run stand with Ben Stokes stabilised things for the hosts. But England found themselves 129 for five when their captain was bowled on 49 via an inside edge by Duanne Olivier.

The third spurned chance then came, Heino Kuhn dropping Stokes on 19 off Olivier. It was by no means straightforward, but had it stuck England would have been 130 for six.

Kagiso Rabada reacts to a dropped catch by Quinton de Kock off the batting of Keaton Jennings (Getty)

In the end that drop only cost South Africa four runs, Olivier getting his man when Stokes edged him to Faf Du Plessis at slip.

This was turning into a fine spell by Olivier, whose two wickets for four runs in eight balls threatened to put the contest back in the balance.

Olivier then struck again after tea, Bairstow, who had taken 25 balls to get off the mark, top-edging to Rabada in the deep as England slipped to 153 for seven, a lead of 289.

Then came Elgar’s drop of Moeen, the moment which decisively swung this match firmly back in England’s favour.

That set England’s No8 free and he went on to reach his 50 in 49 balls thanks to that huge six off Maharaj.

By the time Toby Roland-Jones departed for 11, Maharaj taking an excellent running catch off Rabada, England’s lead had passed 350.

Yet even Roland-Jones was afforded a life shortly before he was out, Du Plessis shelling a top-edge off Rabada running back from slip.

South Africa, who started the day on 220 for nine, needed to take every chance offered to them after conceding a first-innings deficit of 136. But their catching really was shocking. Now only seemingly the Manchester weather can save them from a 3-1 series defeat.