On this day in 2020: England complete a 3-1 Test series victory over South Africa

England toured South Africa in the 2019-20 season for a four-match Test series and performed stunningly well. After the first three Tests, the visitors were leading by 2-1 and had a chance to seal a memorable series win in the fourth Test. The fourth and final Test was to be played in Johannesburg even as the Proteas were looking to draw the series.

After opting to bat first, England rode on half-centuries from Zak Crawley, Joe Root and Ollie Pope to post 400 runs in the first innings. Anrich Nortje picked up five wickets but not before conceding 110 runs in 24 overs only. South Africa would’ve then hoped to get close to the opposition’s total.

But that wasn’t to be as Mark Wood, with ample support from the rest of the bowlers, ran through their line-up. Only Quinton de Kock played an innings of substance scoring 76 runs. Rather South Africa were struggling at 93/7 at one stage. It was the partnership between Dwaine Pretorius (37) and De Kock, that they managed to reach 183 which was still an underwhelming score. For England, Wood returned with the figures of 5/57 while Stokes and Woakes picked a couple of wickets each.

RESULT| England win by 191 runs.

Nortje is the last man to depart. Rassie Van der Dussen’s 98 gave South Africa a flicker of hope but England proved too strong.

England beat South Africa 3-1 in Test series.#ProteaFire #SAvENG pic.twitter.com/4JxYcDxg5d

— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) January 27, 2020

With a lead of 217 runs in their bag, the confident visitors came out playing their shots in the second innings. They lost wickets at regular intervals but the scoreboard kept moving. Eventually, they were bowled out for 248 runs in 62nd over setting a target of 466 runs for South Africa to level the series.

Chasing down the target was close to impossible but South Africa were expected to put up a fight. Accordingly, Rassie van der Dussen batted well, bringing his aggressive to the fore and kept South Africa in the hunt scoring 98 runs. But his wicket ended a glimmer of hope for them and then, England soon ran through the hosts. South Africa were bundled out for 274 runs in the second innings, on this day, losing the game by a huge 191 runs. Wood was again the star for England picking four wickets and helping them seal a historic series win by 3-1.