SA vs ENG: 2nd Test – Key talking points as visitors level series
Despite South Africa’s resilience, England showed great persistence to level the series 1-1 by winning the Cape Town Test by 189 runs. On a nail-biting 5th day, it was Ben Stokes’ brilliance again which helped the visitors get over the line. The match further strengthened the growing clamour to leave Test cricket untouched and for it to remain a five-day affair. With both teams having their own sets of flaws, it promises to be a mouthwatering encounter when the action moves to Port Elizabeth for the third Test.
Here we take a look at a few talking points from the contest:
Ollie Pope shows his worth
Just when it seemed that England would be skittled out for a score of around 220, youngster Ollie Pope stepped up big time. English cricket has high hopes from Pope and he gave a glimpse of his composure. He batted brilliantly with the tail-enders to allow England to post an extra 50-odd runs on the board. Starting slow, he picked up the tempo when starting to run out of partners. His knock of 61 in challenging conditions gave the English bowlers something to fight for which they would later be grateful.
Proteas fail to impose themselves
Despite impressive performances from Dean Elgar (88) and Rassie van der Dussen (68), the hosts came up with a poor effort in their first innings. Support for the duo was non-existent, with the next highest score being de Kock’s 20. A failure to build meaningful partnerships meant that the visitors managed to pick up a crucial first-innings lead. For them, the sight of James Anderson back to his best would be that of great delight. The veteran pacer picked up his 28th 5-fer in Test cricket, overtaking the legendary Ian Botham.
Sibley makes his mark
With Rory Burns out for a long period, the onus was on youngsters Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley to step up. Sibley did exactly that, holding one end as the others around him attacked. With his maiden century (133*), he brilliantly announced his arrival in international cricket. Once England had a big lead, Stokes (72) launched a whirlwind of strokes, taking the game firmly away from the hosts. England set South Africa a target of 438, which was always going to be a humongous task.
South Africa hang on
In response, South Africa got off to a steady start on Day 4, courtesy of the resilience shown by Pieter Malan and Dean Elgar. Their efforts followed by some grit showed by Zabayr Hamza gave the Proteas some hope of saving the Test. On Day 5, England needed 8 wickets to force through a victory, while the Proteas required 312 runs.
On the final day, South Africa tried to embark on an epic blockathon, but the visitors eventually found a way through. Anderson got the first breakthrough, sending nightwatchman Maharaj back to the pavilion. Skipper du Plessis too couldn’t resist much, with Bess getting the scalp. But the key wicket was of Malan, who was finally dismissed for 84 by Curran. He had established a key partnership with van der Dussen and it seemed that the pair would safely guide the visitors to a draw.
Stokes finds that extra yard
The dismissal set in motion a chain of events and South Africa simply could not resist a flurry of attack from the visitors. Quinton de Kock threw his wicket away against Joe Denly after scoring his fifty. Broad would dismiss van der Dussen to get England’s spirits up. Ben Stokes then found an extra yard in his bowling, dismissing Pretorius, Nortje and Philander in quick succession, as England celebrated a famous victory in the final session.
Brief scores: England 269 (Pope 61*) and 391 for 8 (Sibley 133, Root 61, Stokes 72) beat South Africa 223 (Elgar 88, van der Dussen 68, Anderson 5-40) and 248 (Malan 84, de Kock 50) by 189 runs
