James Anderson ruled out of remainder series against South Africa due to rib injury

After a nail-biting victory in the second Test, veteran fast-bowler, James Anderson has been ruled out of the remainder of the series against South Africa after sustaining a left rib injury in the second Test at Newlands. The right-arm fast bowler suffered a side strain on Day 5 of the second Test and did not bowl in the afternoon session after sending off Keshav Maharaj early in the day. He returned to bowl two overs at the beginning of the evening session, but looked in discomfort throughout and was quickly removed from the attack.

'We'll wait and see'

Earlier, Skipper Joe Root confirmed his injury on Tuesday as he said that it struck Anderson on his side but could be just a little niggle. “He’ll go for a scan, get some treatment, and we’ll see how he pulls up going into PE. We’ll wait and see,” the skipper added.

Meanwhile, Head Coach Chris Silverwood had said, “We’ve got to make sure he (Anderson) is all right now. When somebody of Jimmy’s quality is potentially going to be missing, it is always going to be a concern for the coach and for the team because we want him in there. He showed in the first innings that he is a great bowler.”

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England pace attack overpowers Proteas batsmen

Kagiso Rabada and company put England under tremendous pressure in the first innings as the English were bundled up for a mere 269. Dean Elgar put on a stunning display of batting but unfortunately missed out on a deserving century as the Proteas were bowled out for 223. The English batsmen then came strong at South Africa as debutant Dominic Sibley notched up his maiden century. 

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Skipper Joe Root also scored a half-century while Ben Stokes' fiery 72 helped England post a target of 439. With just a day to go, South Africa looked to draw the match instead of chasing the total. However, resilient fights from Pieter Malan and Quinton de Kock weren't enough in front of the English pace attack. As a result, England won the match by 189 runs and levelled the series 1-1. 

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