Right, that’s it from me. Stick around for Mike Selvey’s full report from Kingsmead and all the reaction from Ali Martin. See you in Cape Town. Cheerio!
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Moeen Ali is named man of the match, and strays into stating the bleedin’ obvious: “It was nice to not go for many runs and pick up wickets.”
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And here’s Alastair Cook: “You can never get complacent. [But] we’ll enjoy the next few hours as a team. It’s our first win away from home for a long time.”
Here’s Hashim Amla, who takes to the presentation stand to near silence. “The bowlers did a great job, it’s just our first innings that let us down … it’s more a confidence thing, once you get runs under your belt you play a bit differently.”
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South Africa lost their last seven wickets for 38 runs – there will surely be changes for the second Test. England will likely make a change too, with James Anderson proving his fitness with six overs this morning and presumably coming in for the solid but unspectacular Chris Woakes.
England win by 241 runs
What a performance from England, who go 1-0 up in the series. They’ve outplayed South Africa in every department and it’s the world No1 team who have all the doubts heading into the second Test in Cape Town.
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WICKET! Morkel lbw b Broad 8 (South Africa 174 all out)
Stuart Broad, after just one over earlier this morning, returns as England strive to find this final wicket. The first is a loosener, a juicy half-volley that Morkel shovels through the covers for four more. The next, though, beats the outside edge. And though Morkel stands firm for a few deliveries, a bit of extra pace from the last which is a bit inswinger which beats the outside edge and crashes into the front pad. The finger goes up and Morkel reviews because he might as well. It’s out every day of the week, though, and England have won this by 241 runs.
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70th over: South Africa 170-9 (Duminy 26, Morkel 4) Woakes, struggling to discomfit the batsmen, sends down a maiden at Duminy.
69th over: South Africa 170-9 (Duminy 26, Morkel 4) Morkel clumps Moeen over the top of mid on for four. And he looks again very happy out there until the final ball of the over, which is, in the end I suppose, a perfectly judged leave – the ball missed off stump by a whisker.
68th over: South Africa 166-9 (Duminy 26, Morkel 0) “This is very impressive from England,” writes Gary Naylor. “No wickets for Anderson (obviously) and just seven runs for Cook and we’ve hammered SA away.” Yep, agreed. The former is the most encouraging I reckon – the batting options are strong but to get a reassuring glimpse of an Anderson-less future is very encouraging.
Duminy leans into a glorious cover drive, which prompts whoever is in charge of the PA system to blast out a bit of Toto’s Africa. He follows that up with another boundary, this time driven back past Woakes as the bowler overpitches a touch.
67th over: South Africa 158-9 (Duminy 18, Morkel 0) Moeen skips in again with the giant figure of Morne Morkel in his crosshairs. He’s going at the ball a little hard but looks comfortable enough. Or at least as comfortable as you could expect a No11 to look with six men round the bat and his team 258 runs and 70 overs from victory.
66th over: South Africa 158-9 (Duminy 18, Morkel 0) Woakes once more. Duminy keeps his powder dry. A maiden.
65th over: South Africa 158-9 (Duminy 18, Morkel 0) Moeen replaces Broad after just one over. Duminy sweeps for two, then wristily flicks away for a single. That leaves Morne Morkel with two balls to face … leg slip, short leg, silly mid off and a couple of slips are around the bat but Morkel manages to survive both deliveries.
64th over: South Africa 155-9 (Duminy 15, Morkel 0) A 27-ball duck for Piedt then. England need just one more.
WICKET! Piedt c Taylor b Woakes 0 (South Africa 155-9)
Dane Piedt’s trial by spin is over for now, with Chris Woakes replacing Moeen Ali. And it’s immediately clear why Piedt was sat at the spinner’s end – he fends blindly at the first which hoops away outside off then gloves one just short of short leg. And the final ball of the over catches the inside edge, flicks onto the pad and loops up for James Taylor at short leg to take a comfortable catch.
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63rd over: South Africa 155-8 (Duminy 15, Piedt 0) Stuart Broad replaces Steven Finn, who has put in a fine hour’s work this morning. Broad beats Duminy’s outside edge with a beauty that moves away a touch from the left-hander but he survives.
62nd over: South Africa 155-8 (Duminy 15, Piedt 0) An inside edge zips well wide of Taylor at short leg as Moeen continues at Piedt, who can’t be tempted to anything more aggressive than a block.
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61st over: South Africa 155-8 (Duminy 15, Piedt 0) Finn finds Duminy’s outside edge … but the ball drops short of the slip cordon, perfectly bisecting fourth slip and gully. Four more to the total.
60th over: South Africa 151-8 (Duminy 11, Piedt 0) Piedt is coping well with this spinner v spinner battle. He’s now blocked out 15 balls without scoring but he’s largely looked solid. Could well be that he and Duminy have had a conversation and opted to take an end each.
59th over: South Africa 151-8 (Duminy 11, Piedt 0) Full and wide from Finn and Duminy gratefully drives through the covers for four, the first boundary of the morning. And a couple of balls later he times one sweetly down the ground for four more to long on. Gorgeous shot.
“This morning I was thinking how rubbish I thought AB, Amla and Steve Smith were on first viewings,” writes Ian Truman. “And how wrong I turned out to be. Yet we still seem intent in writing off Hales, Buttler, Bairstow so early into their careers... I think this England team has a lot of improvement in it. Good to see.”
58th over: South Africa 143-8 (Duminy 3, Piedt 0) Moeen comes round the wicket, looking to turn one through the gate. Piedt, though, blocks out with some certainty and from the last Bairstow makes a fine take down the leg side. Another maiden.
57th over: South Africa 143-8 (Duminy 3, Piedt 0) Finn probes Duminy’s defences once more and the batsman stands firm without looking like scoring. A maiden.
56th over: South Africa 143-8 (Duminy 3, Piedt 0) Moeen welcomes Piedt to the crease by sliding one past his outside edge. South Africa have lost five wickets for seven runs in 9.3 overs.
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WICKET! Abbott lbw b Moeen 2 (South Africa 143-8)
Duminy takes a single off the first of Moeen’s latest … which turns out to be a misplaced show of faith. Two balls later Moeen traps Abbott on the back foot, slap-bang in front of middle-and-leg.
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55th over: South Africa 142-7 (Duminy 2, Abbott 2) Finn goes full and straight, looking for the lbw, but Abbott neatly steers the ball away to backward square leg for a couple to get off the mark. The bowler gets one to rear up and take Abbott on the gloves, then fizzes in a yorker. Abbott looks well organised, though, and does well to keep the ball out.
“On the other hand, of course, specialist wicketkeepers do have their uses …” notes Richard Woods.
54th over: South Africa 140-7 (Duminy 2, Abbott 0) Moeen continues and for the first time this morning offers a batsman a bit of width – Duminy cuts away for a couple to get off the mark. Moeen has just lost his radar a bit here and Duminy misses out on one dragged a little short and down the leg side.
53rd over: South Africa 138-7 (Duminy 0, Abbott 0) South Africa’s 136-3 has become 138-7.
A missive from our very own Mike Selvey: “For all those who insist a ‘proper ‘ keeper would have made that stumping (which was not an easy one), can I just point out that arguably the best keeper in history, Alan Knott, dropped a simple catch off me at the Oval in in 1976. It happens. Also that Alec Stewart, Matt Prior, Rodney Marsh and others were poor keepers when they started their international careers.”
WICKET! Steyn b Finn 2 (South Africa 138-7)
Finn pitches one up to Steyn outside off and gets the ball wobbling away off the seam. It’s far too good for even a capable tailender like Steyn. And so is the next, an almost carbon copy delivery but this time angled in on the stumps, one of which is ripped out of the ground as Steyn again fishes uncertainly. This could be over before lunch.
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52nd over: South Africa 138-6 (Duminy 0, Steyn 2) Moeen gets a first bowl at Dale Steyn, who fends, blocks and dead-bats for five balls before squirting the last away off the toe-end for a single through backward point.
51st over: South Africa 137-6 (Duminy 0, Steyn 1) Finn v Steyn, round two. Ding, ding. Steyn fends off into the leg side, past the man at short leg, to get off the mark and give South Africa their first run of the morning.
That stumping, by the way, is England’s first in Tests since Mumbai in 2012.
50th over: South Africa 136-6 (Duminy 0, Steyn 0) Duminy, a specialist batsman at No 7 in this South Africa lineup that is batting at No 8 here thanks to the nightwatchman, rather nervously blocks out the remainder of the over. Including the Du Plessis wicket last night, South Africa have lost three wickets for no runs in the past four overs.
WICKET! Bavuma st Bairstow b Moeen 0 (South Africa 136-6)
If England thought they had the perfect start before … JONNY BAIRSTOW HAS A STUMPING! Bavuma wanders down the pitch at Moeen and misses. The wicketkeeper this time, collects and whips off the bails in a flash. England have two wickets in 15 balls for no runs this morning.
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49th over: South Africa 136-5 (Bavuma 0, Steyn 0) Steven Finn thunders in to Dale Steyn, who plays a couple of defensive shots slightly away from his body. “Thunders in” is the phrase too – Finn has attacked the crease in fine old style in this Test, which is a wonderful sight for English cricket. There’s an aggression and a purpose to him which hints that he might not just be back to his best but in a place that exceeds his previous best. Steyn, with minimum foot movement, survives a hostile over.
48th over: South Africa 136-5 (Bavuma 0, Steyn 0) Moeen Ali takes the first over of the day and he finds huge turn from the off, trapping De Villiers with his third ball and prompting another huge appeal as Bavuma is hit on the pad. This time the batsman is outside the line but those six balls do not bode well for South Africa.
WICKET! De Villiers lbw b Moeen 37 (South Africa 136-5)
Pitch on middle-and-off, tweaking away to thunk into leg stump. No reprieve for De Villiers. That is a stunning start for England.
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REVIEW! De Villiers lbw b Moeen 37
Now then! The third ball of the day keeps low and takes De Villiers on the pad. The finger goes up but AB reviews immediately …
Out come the players. AB de Villiers strides to the crease alongside Dale Steyn, the nightwatchman who could get the momentum turning a touch in South Africa’s favour if he can hang around for an hour or so. Let’s see …
Some pre-play emails: “Even if England win today the overriding emotion I will take from this Test is the thought of Rob Smyth watching the day’s play unfold in his undercrackers,” writes Ian Copestake.
“Morning ‘Ashers’,” writes Chris Drew. “Surely that should read ‘fish pie’ Ashdown? Some of us never forget!” Never forget, never apologise.
Paul Farbrace has been talking to Sky Sports before play and has given his support to Jonny Bairstow, suggesting that the missed stumping chance to remove AB de Villiers was not all that easy. Which is true, but only inasmuch as no stumping chance is ever all that easy. The day of the specialist wicketkeeper is over though, so for my money, rightly or wrongly, you simply have to readjust your expectations of the competences behind the stumps. And it’s worth remembering too that even the very best with the gloves make mistakes. There’s never been a flawless wicketkeeper.
Preamble
Hello all. And welcome to the fifth and final day of the first Test at Kingsmead with England six wickets from victory and a 1-0 lead in the series. South Africa, on the other hand, need another 280 runs with six wickets remaining.
With the pitch deteriorating (having not been an easy surface to play on in the first place) England are heavy favourites. Moeen Ali should play a key role whatever happens, although Steven Finn has been the battering ram for England in the second innings thus far, looking back to his best and taking three wickets, including that of Faf du Plessis in the final over of day four.
Play starts at 8am GMT.
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