OTD: Rejuvenated South Africa defeated England by 340 runs at Trent Bridge

It was a rejuvenated South Africa with their returning captain, Faf du Plessis. On July 17, 2017, South Africa, at Trent Bridge, outclassed England by a whopping 340-run margin. The result of the match came as a shocker.

A fully charged Protean pace battery with Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel, and Chris Morris wrecked havoc in the second Test of the series. Philander was the man of the match for his 5-wicket haul and notable contributions with the bat. England found hardly any route to escape against the visiting team. In this match, Hashim Amla passed 8000 career Test runs, scored half-centuries in both innings, and made century stands with Quinton de Kock and Dean Elgar.

As the chasing side in the game, England got the target of 474 runs, and they made only 133 in reply, and South Africa won the match by 340 runs. Philander and man of the match, heap praise for Morne Morkel, who just delivered one of his career's best dominating performances. Numbers and stats might not reflect the effort he made during the match, but he showed how to play a supportive role from behind to help the teammates.

Morne Morkel's supportive bowling was crucial for South Africa

"He makes it uncomfortable for batters, and they try and take me on. It's an awesome effort from all the bowlers. And our batsmen toughed it out; it looked ugly at times but came through key phases of the game," Vernon Philander said on Morne.

Faf du Plessis, then the leader of SA, echoed the experienced pacer's remarks over Morkel. He said, "Morne's bowling was the best I've seen for him for some time."