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England bounced back hard and made an amazing comeback in the series after losing the first test at Lord’s by an innings and 12 runs. They came back to win the second Test match in Manchester by an innings and 85 runs, making the third and final test match a hugely interesting one.
As the test match began on what was to be day three of the match, South Africa were asked to bat first after England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to field. Ollie Robinson was the pick of the bowlers with the red ball, picking 5/49, while the veteran Stuart Broad went past Glen McGrath’s record of 563, which was the most test wickets by a pacer, picking 4/41.
Six wins in seven Tests for our Men's team this summer. pic.twitter.com/xdNRVpPjfQ
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 12, 2022
South Africa were bundled out for 118 in the first innings, with Marco Jansen being the top scorer with 30 runs.
When England came out to bat in the first innings, South Africa did quite well by restricting the England batters to 158, with Ollie Pope making 67(77) and Marco Jansen being the top-wicket taker for South Africa with 5/35 and Kagiso Rabada taking 4/81. This gave England a vital lead of 40 runs, which proved to be vital as South African batters struggled in the second innings as well.
South Africa did marginally well in the first innings, but they could only manage to put up a total of 169 runs, with captain Dean Elgar scoring 36(59). For England, Broad and Stokes took three wickets each, while Anderson and Robinson picked two wickets each to wrap up South Africa’s second innings.
When they came out to bat on the final day, England were 97/0 and needed just 33 runs to win the third test match against South Africa. It was just a matter of time for England to seal the series victory on the final day. As it happened, they chased down the target in just 5.3 overs (28 minutes) to win an extraordinary match, which lasted just three days in total after play was abandoned on the first day due to rain without a single ball being bowled, and play was suspended on the second day as a mark of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Through a nine-wicket win over South Africa, England made this third test match at The Oval the shortest since 1912 by winning it within just three days of proper play.
Zak Crawley was being criticized a lot by the experts before the start of the third test match as he was struggling to score runs as an opener for England. However, Brendon McCullum continued to back Crawley by quoting him as a special player who will come good soon. Fortunately, Zak Crawley turned things around by scoring an unbeaten 69 off just 57 balls with 12 fours and a strike rate of 121.05 in the second innings.
“A good first innings helped us at Lord’s. First-innings runs are so big in the UK, and we’ve failed in that department,” Elgar, the South Africa captain, told Sky Sports. “I’ve got to give our bowlers credit, they ran in and did all that was asked of them, but it all boils down to our batting.”
Stokes praised England’s top order of Crawley, Lees, and Pope, as well as Broad and Anderson. “Important to allow them enough time,” Stokes said before accepting the Basil D’Oliveira Trophy in a subdued celebration out of respect for the nation’s period of mourning for the Queen, who died on Thursday.
“The way Popey’s come out and played, he’s shown what he’s capable of, and Zak and Leesy, opening the batting in England is very hard. Don’t underestimate how they set the tone.” said Stokes. “It’s phenomenal to have two of the great seam bowlers (Broad and Anderson) in your team, two sporting greats, very blessed. They are a huge credit to themselves and this game, and a lot of young players who want to be fast bowlers look up to them.”
Ollie Robinson was awarded Player of the Match for his 5/49 and 2/40 in the first and second innings, respectively, while Ben Stokes was given the Player of the Series award for his vital contribution of 159 runs and 10 wickets in the three-match Test series.
South Africa has dropped a few points in the ICC World Test Championship, finishing second with 60 PCT (%) and 72 points, while England is seventh with 38.6 PCT (%) and 88 points.
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