England endured a devastating defeat to South Africa in the second Test at Nottingham by 340 runs to have the series squared up at 1-1, with two games to go. Throughout the game, England’s batting looked utterly clueless against a disciplined and well organised South African pace attack. One individual who terribly disappointed from the batting front for England was Gary Ballance.
The southpaw has been in tatters throughout the first couple of games and against bowlers of high pedigree, has looked completely out of sorts. To compound his woes, the southpaw was hit on his left index finger by Morne Morkel on the fourth morning of the game at Trent Bridge.
Post England’s loss, it was addressed that Ballance would have an X Ray, and could potentially miss the next Test. The injury to the below par Mark Wood was another cause of concern for the hosts. Already missing the services of their star all rounder Chris Woakes, England needs to gather the momentum quickly before the third Test arrives.
Addressing the press after the thrashing, skipper Joe Root mentioned the fact that as many as 6 players were looking to make the most of the chances.
“We will sit down over the next couple of days,” Root said. “The top six are talented players and they will be desperate to make their chances count when they come along.”
“It’s important at The Oval we try to get off to a really strong start especially in the first innings and those guys are more than capable of doing it. The way they’ve gone about things in practice and the runs they’ve scored in county cricket have been outstanding and now it’s just about doing it in international cricket.”