England registered a win by an innings and 85 runs to draw level in the series and pull South Africa down from the top of the ICC World Test Championship standings.
England bowlers were on the money from the word go and hardly gave any lose deliveries to South Africa to capitalise on. The persistent pressure eventually brought about the downfall of Dean Elgar, who had his off-stump uprooted by a peach of a delivery from James Anderson.
Sarel Erwee followed his captain back into the pavilion with Ollie Robinson inducing the edge into the safe hands of Ben Foakes.
Stuart Broad rattled the stumps of Aiden Markram, only for the third umpire to rule it a no-ball. Markram’s lifeline lasted less than two overs as Broad had the last laugh, luring the Proteas batter with a wide one.
Rassie van der Dussen and Keegan Petersen batted with caution thereafter to ensure South Africa did not lose any more wickets in the morning session.
South Africa stalled England’s charge with the promising stand after the break. Petersen and van der Dussen put on 87 runs for the fourth wicket as England kept searching for wickets till the tea break.
The partnership had given South Africa a glimmer of hope, but Player of the Match Ben Stokes returned to take two quick wickets after tea, sending back van der Dussen and Petersen off successive overs to turn the game firmly in England’s direction.
Anderson goes past McGrath
Anderson added another feather to his cap, picking up the wicket of Simon Harmer to go past Glenn McGrath as the fast bowler with most wickets at the international level. It was Anderson’s 950th international wicket, a tally he would go on to better by one at the end of the day to help England seal an innings win.
Anderson is five wickets away from matching Anil Kumble’s tally and will then have only Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan ahead of him, both of whom have over 1000 scalps.
Anderson finished the Test with six wickets as England won their sixth game in the ICC World Test Championship
The wickets continue to tumble!#WTC23 | #ENGvSA | Scorecard: https://t.co/cBe15R0wK9 pic.twitter.com/JPnvHleQQa
— ICC (@ICC) August 27, 2022
South Africa drop to No.2 in WTC points table
South Africa had affirmed their position at the top of the WTC table after their win at Lord’s, but an innings defeat here has reduced their win percentage to 66.67%, below that of Australia’s 70%.
Sri Lanka are third with 53.33%, but South Africa will hope to seal a win in the next Test to ensure they are on course to reach the ICC World Test Championship final next year in England.
Scores: SA – 151, 179, ENG – 415/9 dec
Result: England win by an innings and 85 runs
Ben Stokes P.OM: “It’s been incredible, the support, especially when we have Jimmy bowling from his own end. Amazing to come back from last week’s disappointment at Lord’s. Gives us a lot of confidence back and sets the series up nicely for the last game at The Oval. [On Crawley’s innings] The way he applied himself was incredible, it was definitely a new-ball wicket, and definitely against the reverse-swing of the old ball as well. [The performance] might be forgotten, but it shouldn’t be. [Ben Foakes] should honestly be the one receiving this award.
“Seven dismissals as a keeper, and how tidy he was [apart from his hundred]. Amazing game from him, which he should never forget. [On Robinson] Fully deserved the call back into the squad. He’s had some tough times in the last couple of months, and he’s come back and showed the hard work he’s put in over the last six months. Quality player. [Measured batting approach from him].
“It wasn’t one of those wickets where you could hit through the line. Some balls were skidding and some were holding. I’ve always found starting against reverse-swing the toughest. Coming at the ball has made it a little easier for me. It’s not always going to be how we’ve played in the last 5-6 weeks, but having that positive mindset really helps. [On his spell today] I looked at the scoreboard and wanted to see how many overs we had until the new ball. I felt in good rhythm and the ball was reverse-swinging. I had my tail up and everything felt good.”
Dean Elgar: “Not at all [regrets about team selection and batting first]. But first-innings runs are important in Test cricket. Knowing that the wicket might have crumbled later on, no regrets batting first. Being three down at lunch [on day one], I might have been happy with that, might have set it up for our middle order.
“On spinners bowling in tandem to Stokes and Foakes] it was actually a bit of a dead period with England not scoring too many. Our fast bowlers had already been stretched a little bit by then, but I could have brought them back sooner. A lot of learnings. Cricket is a funny game, lbw shout or DRS going one way and not the other.
“Our bowlers threw everything at them, can’t take anything away from their effort. From what I’ve heard, [Rassie] has a fracture in his finger. I’m not a medical doctor, but I think he’ll be ruled out of the series, which is highly unfortunate. No doubt [we can bounce back]. It’s set up for a great series, which Test cricket needs.”
