England Cricket Team won the 3rd Test Match in a grand fashion. The match was played at Kennington Oval, London. England won the match by 9 wickets and once again gave a reality check to South Africa. South Africa would be crestfallen as they were thrashed by the hosts. Proteas now have slipped to 2nd position in World Test Championship with a percentile of 60. On the other hand, England is in 7th position with 38.6 %
England was in shock with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II; Day 2 of the Test Match was canceled. England Cricket Board (ECB) had requested Cricket South Africa (CSA) to stay one day extra to make up for the lost day but the visitors refused by saying that the players need to spend time with their families. The 5-Day Test Match turned out to be a 3-Day game affair which was quite rare in the modern era.
Ollie Robinson & Stuart Broad Wreck South Africa
Ben Stokes had elected to bowl on Day 1 but due to incessant rain, there was no play. On Day 3, Ollie Robinson who was making a comeback to the national team after injury had a dream run. The bowler was quite disciplined in his line & length and he immediately got the rewards.
The pacer got rid of the dangerous Dean Elgar by going around the wicket. Elgar is the backbone of an inexperienced batting lineup. Robinson was bowling some sheer pace and the overcast conditions helped him a lot. The 28-year-old took his 2nd 5-wicket haul and was quite ruthless in his spell. He had conceded 49 runs in 14 overs.
Stuart Broad, the veteran silenced the critics by taking a 4-wicket haul. In doing that he went past Legendary Glenn McGrath’s 563 wickets and made a statement that he is not done yet. Broad & Robinson hunted in a pack as they didn’t give an inch to South African batters. South Africa’s batters lasted for only 36.2 overs and scored only 118 runs as they weren’t able to handle the swing & movement.
South Africa Make a Staggering Comeback
The visitors knew that they have an improbable task on their hands as scoring a paltry 118 runs won’t keep them in good stead. Marco Jansen took the responsibility of taking wickets as on the other side Rabada was getting the beating. The left-arm fast bowler took a 5-wicket haul and was quite economical.
At the end of Day 3, the score of England was 154-7 and the lead was 36 runs. Ollie Pope was making sure that he gets boundaries consistently as from another end the batters were falling apart. Pope scored 67 runs in 77 balls in which he struck 13 fours as he was the only batter who showed intent.
Rabada got thrashed but he took 4 wickets for 81 runs in 13 overs. On Day 4 South Africa wrapped up the innings quickly and bowled out England for 158 runs in 36.2 runs. Both the teams’ innings got ended in 36.2 overs which is unique. England had got a slender but healthy lead of 40 runs.
England Pacers Run Riot South African Batters
South African openers Elgar & Erwee got the deficit cut and were looking ominous. Both the batters were looking set and the stage was set for one of them to get a big hundred. Ben Stokes was worried and then the skipper rolled his arm and provided the 1st breakthrough by dismissing Searl Erwee.
The Skipper Dean Elgar’s decision of not reviewing the LBW decision against Stuart Broad proved to be the turning point of the match. The skipper had scored 36 runs in 59 balls and was rotating the strike quite easily. At his dismissal, the score was 83-2 and South Africa’s lead was 43 runs. The visitors needed a score of around 175 to challenge the hosts.
England’s pacers made sure that the runs are hard to come. The South African batters were not playing ground shots which made the difference. South African batters were clueless as every bowler was possessing a threat. The likes of Broad & Stokes took 3 wickets each whereas Anderson & Robinson took 2 wickets each.
England’s bowling line-up took 56.2 overs to bowl out South Africa for 169. South Africa would be dejected as there was no fight from the players as a single partnership won’t win you a crunch match. England needed 133 runs to win which was not a tough task by any means.
Zak Crawley Shines
England’s openers Zak & Alex made it very clear that they are here to wrap up the game. The batters were in a hurry to score runs and once again targeted Kagiso Rabada. At the end of Day 4, England scored 97 runs for the loss of 1 wicket and required 33 more to win the Test Series.
Day 5 was just a formality as England was bossing the game. Zak Crawley who was under the pump for his low string of scores finally struck a big score. The batter scored an unbeaten 69 runs in 57 balls which included 12 fours. It looked as if he was waiting for the occasion, the batter showed complete control and would be very much happy as he now won’t face the axe.
England Retain Basil D’Oliveria Trophy
England won’t be able to believe that they won the Test Series after being 1-0 down. The way the team has made a comeback is quite remarkable. The Hosts would be delighted as they have dented one more team in World Test Championship 2021-23. We all know that England is out of the race and is only playing for pride.
England’s next assignment is against Pakistan in December which would be a completely different ball game. Head Coach Brendon McCullum & Captain Ben Stokes would be eager to pull Pakistan Cricket Team and so far England has spoiled parties of New Zealand, India & now South Africa.
What lies ahead for South Africa
South Africa would be worried as their percentile has reached 60 and their next Test Assignment is against mighty Australia in December. They need batters who can take the total to 400 runs as Australia can easily score 300 odd runs. There is no doubt that South Africa has one of the best bowling attacks but they can’t just win matches with bowling. Winning a series requires teamwork which was missing in the last two Test Matches.
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