England vs South Africa, 3rd Test at London, , Jul 27 2017 - Match Result

England win by 239 runs and take a 2-1 lead going into the final Test at Old Trafford. A terrific all-round display from England, who fought hard on the opening day in tough batting conditions to set up a good first innings total. Stokes hundred was outstanding then the bowlers, led by Roland-Jones on debut, got to work to earn a huge lead. A solid second-innings just left the question of whether South Africa could survive. They couldn't. By a long way. A team effort to bowl them out, Stokes hustled them last night, then it was TRJ and Moeen, with the hat-trick, who sealed it today.

Faf du Plessis "It's very obvious we missed Vernon, 350 was hundred runs too many but you have to give credit to how the England team played. Four down on the first day was a really good effort. Vernon is one of those world-class performers you take him at 50%, we knew he'd be sick and the plan was to hopefully win the toss and bat and give him an extra day. We thought he'd be back for days two, three four and five. We missed him in the first innings to put more pressure on England. It's very obvious the mistakes we made here and in the first Test. With the bat we weren't able to withstand the pressure. It's important you fight through it, but we didn't do that. It's been a very strange series, extreme from one to another, we don't have to scratch our heads - it's basic. Dean's knock was amazing and something we can look towards."

Joe Root "What a way to celebrate the 100th Test and this ground. It's been a great week for us. The way we batted first innings was very important, found a good tempo and it's a benchmark for us. Was a challenging wicket which got better as the game went on. We always felt we were ahead of the game from there. [Alastair's] innings was cruical, we could have been five/six down. That's why he's scored so many runs. At no point have we made excuses, always looking to improve, and most pleasing thing is we've responded. Will be hard for [TRJ] to top that, great to see him take to it like a duck to water. Important he stays level but he's got a mature head."

And the Man of the Match is...Ben Stokes "I felt I had to work pretty hard early on. The wicket was offering a bit, especially to Philander, can't count how many times he beat the bat so it's pleasing when you get through the tough times. I'll ways try to play in the same way, be positive, whether that's attack or defence. It came off this week so hopefully I can go forward. I asked Joe at the end if it was sliding down, it was a dramatic ending. Credit to Dean Elgar, was good to see the back of him. Congrats to Mo. The last spell at Trent Bridge was a confidence boost and hopefully I'll keep getting the rewards."

Well, that just about wraps things up for this Test. Apologies for various technical glitches over the last few days, we are trying very hard to get them right as quickly as possible. We'll be back on Friday for the start of the fourth Test - a nailed on South Africa win? For now, from Gnasher and Alan, it's goodbye and thanks for joining us.

So, Moeen's hat-trick ball will be to Morne Morkel, another left-hander. Stokes, get ready at slip...

A well-deserved standing ovation from the crowd for a mighty fine 228-ball innings

Ed: "Dawid Malan has a better first-class bowling average and strike rate than Moeen... why not give him a twirl?"

Zassies: "Has anyone pointed out that SA are already halfway there :P"

Short leg comes into place. Malan puts the helmet on

Ben Stokes returns for a pre new-ball burst