And with that, I’m done. The fourth and final Test starts on Friday. Here’s the report on the conclusion of this one again. Bye!
Chris Silverwood also has a chat:
To see it all come together is superb really. Ollie coming through, getting his maiden Test century, Bess with his first Test five-for, to see them all contributing, the feeling in the camp is superb. They bring real energy. You think back to when you were young, full of energy, full of life, and they’re bringing that to the dressing-room. One thing I’ve asked them to do, is on the field they’re being busy, throwing themselves around, and I think that sort of energy drags everybody else with them. It helps you’ve got Woody up there as well, full of energy, full of life, and he’s infectious is Woody. To see him bowling with pace and with a big smile on his face was super.
My temptation [with Pope] is to leave him where he is, let him find his feet, get a few more runs under his belt, make sure that he truly feels he belongs here, and I don’t think it will take him too long to do that, and then we can assess again. But I think for the moment, leave him where he is.
We have got one eye on Sri Lanka and we’ve got to work really hard to make sure with the spinners when we get there they’re full of confidence, they’ve got wickets under their belt, and they’ve got their bond, like we do with our fast-bowling unit. We’re working hard on that. We’ve actually got a few more spinners coming through now, so there’s competition for places which I think is helpful.
Vic Marks’ report has landed, and here it is.
The victory was so easy, despite a cheerful, preposterous last wicket partnership of 99, that it becomes hard to assess. At Cape Town England had to graft, dig deep and snatch every chance to win. Here they dropped half a dozen chances, with Ben Stokes the unlikely yet most regular culprit – though he does stick himself wherever he thinks the ball will go – and still they won by an innings and 53 runs.
The mopping-up operation on a breezy day was clumsy but not too stressful, partly because the sun deigned to make an appearance again. Joe Root opened with Stuart Broad, who for the second morning in a row dismissed Vernon Philander in his first over, with Ollie Pope taking his sixth catch of the match. Root himself decided to partner Stuart Broad at the start, which made sense given his success on Sunday, though it was surprising and ultimately embarrassing that he should bowl unchanged for 80 minutes without success. His last over yielded 28 runs (including four byes); it also removed the smile from Root’s face and equalled the most expensive one delivered in Test cricket.
Much more here:
Joe Root has another chat, this time with Sky:
It’s nice for us all to be well and healthy at the moment. The way we’ve played since then, the way we’ve adapted to the different surfaces and really stuck to our methods, I think this game has been a brilliant template for us moving forwards. Big first innings runs, a big partnership in there, and then really driving the game from there. I couldn’t be more proud of the group and for young lads to be stepping up yet again is [Sky’s feed falters, insert your own positive adjective here].
I think more than anything, they’re very willing to listen and to learn. Not that the other guys aren’t, but they haven’t seen any other way, if you like. We’ve got a very clear direction of how we want to take the team forward. The guys have come in and they’ve responded really well to that and we’re now starting to see results, and when you start to see results it starts hammering home the message.
Throughout this tour, we’ve got 20 wickets in all three games and that’s something you wouldn’t say has happened as often as you’d like from an England side abroad. That’s first and foremost a massive step forwards for us as a bowling group. To see guys finding different ways of manipulating the surfaces is really pleasing. And it’s not just the youngsters, it’s the senior guys still learning as well - Broady yesterday and this morning finding different deliveries, being open-minded enough to not just run in and bowl seam-upright stuff. Leg-cutters, cross-seam balls, trying different things, at his age, still now finding different ways to take wickets on flat surfaces is really impressive.
Ollie Pope is the man of the match. He spends much of his interview talking about someone else:
It was an amazing feeling, but it wouldn’t have counted for much if we didn’t win the game. That’s the most important thing. So to get over the line this morning is an even better feeling. To bat with Stokesy is a privilege. He just keeps getting better. To see how he goes about building his innings and the tempo he plays at, it’s awesome to watch and I was in a pretty good seat to watch another special innings from him.
Joe Root is much chirpier:
I think it’s a great template for how we want to play our cricket moving forward: big first innings score and then drive the game from there. I thought Ollie batted brilliantly with Stokesy, a brilliant partnership that really put us in a commanding position. And then the way Bessy bowled was fantastic that first innings, and from that point on we always thought we were in control of it. Throughout this series we’ve had four guys under 25 making five-fors or hundreds, which is a great place to be. We want to continue to provide an environment where that becomes possible, and keep giving those guys confidence. When guys are really stepping up to the plate, especially at a young age, and showing they can perform at this level, that’s going to fill everyone with a huge amount of confidence.
Faf du Plessis has a chat:
Obviously we knew the toss was going to play a role. But we did a job with the ball, controlled the run rate really well once again. I think so far this series our bowlers have kept a lid on their batting line-up. And then England played some really good cricket. They showed application, through Pope and Stokes, and then you lay a platform for guys to come in and just play freely. 500 on the board, you need to make sure you put on a fight and a big total to compete for the rest of the game, and we didn’t do that. We batted poorly in the first innings, we didn’t play Bess very well. Obviously he bowled really well but I felt we could have played him a bit better.
He’s asked about the rumours that his retirement is imminent:
I’ve heard the rumours of a possible retirement. I’ve been pretty consistent with my message, that the T20 World Cup is the timeframe I’m looking for. There’s not a lot of Test cricket from the remainder of the year. For me it’s important as captain that we keep driving forward and applying ourselves to win [the next] Test match. And then after that it’s two Tests in the West Indies and that’s it for Test cricket. From a performance point of view, yes, me and the team are feeling the pressure of not performing to the standard that we should, but we’ll keep fighting.
Today, it turned ugly. Root bowled himself a bit too long, in search of a statistic. Nobody bowled well at the final pair. The match never threatened to even vaguely match the drama we enjoyed at Cape Town. But it’s still been an excellent Test victory, plump with positives. Here’s a quick report, with Vic Marks’ version to follow in short order:
England win by an innings and 53 runs
88.5 overs: South Africa 237 all out (Paterson 39) And so it ends. England didn’t have to bowl at the stumps in the end, though it couldn’t have hurt. They take a 2-1 lead in the series after what remains, despite this morning’s lower-order fight-back, a pretty savage thumping, with the fourth and final Test starting at Johannesburg in four days’ time.
WICKET! Maharaj run out 71 (South Africa 237 all out)
That’s fine fielding, and very ordinary running. Curran collects at mid-on and his shy at the bowler’s end flicks one stump, sends a bail spinning, and catches Maharaj a good yard short!
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88th over: South Africa 237-9 (Maharaj 71, Paterson 39) England don’t seem at all keen on bowling towards the actual stumps, allowing this final pair a lot of untroubled bat-swinging. Three more boundaries here, and South Africa now trail by 53. “England have lost the plot here,” says Nasser Hussain on Sky. Buttler seems pretty sure that Paterson nicked Curran’s fifth delivery, and there was definitely a sound there, but nobody else, least of all the umpire, seems to have heard it, there was nothing to see, and England are fresh out of reviews.
“In answer to Steve Hudson’s question, I’m panicking now,” writes Richard O’Hagan. “I can easily see this pair slogging it out until lunchtime, followed by the heavens opening and there being no play for the rest of the day.” It should remain dry for another few hours at least.
87th over: South Africa 225-9 (Maharaj 71, Paterson 27) Just the one boundary here, and one near-miss, Maharaj mistiming a pull that drops just short of Pope at midwicket. “It was suggested yesterday that for Root to take a five-for would damage Dom Bess’s confidence by undermining his achievement, a part time bowler matching his figures,” writes Thomas Atkins. “So good on the skipper for making the decision to bowl an over of abject filth, getting carted to all parts, to restore the spirits of his young teammate. 4D chess, I tell you.”
86th over: South Africa 220-9 (Maharaj 67, Paterson 26) Dropped! Kind of! Maharaj hits high into the air and Bess runs back at mid-off, makes a desperate last-second dive and still can’t get a hand on it! The next is just flicked over midwicket for six, and the one after that goes past mid-off for four. Then four more, flicked off the hip. These two are going down all guns blazing, and England’s lead is down to 70. “So, at what point should we start to panic about this?” asks Steve Hudson.
85th over: South Africa 204-9 (Maharaj 51, Paterson 26) Wood comes on. Paterson keeps stepping back to give himself room to work the ball into the off side, but then failing to put bat on ball with his extravagant swings, and Wood doesn’t threaten the stumps. Maiden.
84th over: South Africa 204-9 (Maharaj 51, Paterson 26) Curran replaces Root, and South Africa’s final pair keeps swinging. England could have ended it here, as Paterson launched himself on a second run while Maharaj stood still and got caught in no-man’s land, but the throw isn’t firm enough and when it arrives it’s poorly handled.
England’s lead is now 86, or just 3.1 Root Over 82s.
83rd over: South Africa 195-9 (Maharaj 51, Paterson 21) Maharaj reaches his half-century with a sweep for four. That last Root over was the joint most expensive in the history of Test cricket. Time for a change, captain?
Most runs off an over in Test cricket
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) January 20, 2020
28 B Lara (466444) off R Peterson Joburg 2003/04
28 G Bailey (462466) off J Anderson Perth 2013/14
28 K Maharaj (444664b) off J Root Port Elizabeth 2019/20
27 S Afridi (666621) off Harbhajan Lahore 2005/06#SAvENG
82nd over: South Africa 190-9 (Maharaj 46, Paterson 17) Carnage! Root starts his 29th over with a full toss, which Maharaj slaps away to square leg for four. Then the next goes super-fine, a bit super-finer than was intended, for four more, and the one after that Maharaj tries the same shot and gets it right, for another. Root changes angle, and Maharaj despots the next into the stands! And the one after that! Four byes to end the over, which Maharaj started on an 81-ball 22, and ended on an 87-ball 46! 14.7% of South Africa’s total came in that over!
Updated
81st over: South Africa 162-9 (Maharaj 22, Paterson 17) That’s a fine shot from Paterson, who leans back and smears through the covers for four.
80th over: South Africa 156-9 (Maharaj 22, Paterson 11) Of course I was wrong, Root still had this over to bowl with the old ball. His last delivery of the over heads down leg, spins a little further down leg, flicks off Buttler’s gloves and runs away for four byes. England take the new ball immediately, and give it straight to Bess!
79th over: South Africa 149-9 (Maharaj 21, Paterson 9) Paterson leans back and works the ball to backward point. Rood sprints after it, dives, and scoops it away from the rope with an inch to spare, which is a commendably honest effort given that England, 144 ahead at that stage with just one wicket still to take, hardly needed to be overly concerned with the odd run here and there.
78th over: South Africa 145-9 (Maharaj 20, Paterson 6) A single off the second for Maharaj gives Root four balls against the new man, but Paterson looks entirely untroubled. He proves this by smacking the last straight down the ground for four! That’s Root’s last over with this ball, and it’s followed by some drinks.
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77th over: South Africa 138-9 (Maharaj 19, Paterson 0) Bess has a go. Slip, leg slip, silly point, short leg. Three dots, and then the wicket. His first ball to Paterson sounds like it hits bat as well as pad, but it lands safe. England are one wicket away now. “Root is going to insist on bowling with the new ball, isn’t he?” asks Bob O’Hara. It may not get that far.
Updated
WICKET! Nortje b Bess 5 (South Africa 138-9)
Again a change of bowling brings instant reward! Good ball that, which skids through the gate and takes out middle stump!
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76th over: South Africa 138-8 (Maharaj 19, Nortje 5) Root’s 26th over of the innings. He clusters fielders around the bat, but Maharaj doesn’t give them any exercise.
75th over: South Africa 137-8 (Maharaj 19, Nortje 4) Cowabunga! Wood opens the over with a vicious bouncer that rears into Maharaj, who does well to get out of the way. Having done so, he then gets four through point. Then one rears up and flies off the shoulder of the bat but loops wide of silly point and safely to turf!
74th over: South Africa 133-8 (Maharaj 15, Nortje 4) Just five overs now before the new ball becomes available, and England will surely take it pretty swiftly. Root’s five-for needs to be nailed in short order, if it is to happen. It certainly doesn’t happen here, and Nortje gets four off the last, tickled down the leg side.
73rd over: South Africa 128-8 (Maharaj 15, Nortje 0) Wood also switches angle, moving round the wicket mid-over. On Sky, the commentary team spend most of the over lauding Wood’s character. In 20 years’ time, when his sporting achievements are but a distant memory, he can play that to prospective employers/spouses.
72nd over: South Africa 128-8 (Maharaj 15, Nortje 0) Root bowls over the wicket to Maharaj, having decided that the angle that brought such success yesterday isn’t cutting much morning mustard. “I’m with Brian Withington,” writes Guy Hornsby. “Those of us of a certain age know that only a fool predicts England Test results but this shelling seems aeons away from the first Test. Pope is obviously a huge bonus, as is Bess, but whatever they’ve had for breakfast, I’m in.”
71st over: South Africa 128-8 (Maharaj 15, Nortje 0) As Broad said this morning, “it’s one of those pitches that will offer something every few overs if you put the ball in the right areas”. Maharaj and Rabada look pretty comfortable for a few overs, and then that. Presumably it slowed off the surface, because Rabada had pretty much finished his shot by the time the ball turned up.
WICKET! Rabada c Broad b Wood 16 (South Africa 128-8)
Wood replaces Broad, and strikes first ball! Rabada chips the ball limply to mid-on, where Broad runs in to take the most straightforward of catches!
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70th over: South Africa 128-7 (Maharaj 15, Rabada 16) Four more, as Maharaj tonks Root over mid-on, where the fielder watches it sail way over his head on the way to the boundary. And then another boundary, as he works it to backward point where there is no fielder to stop it rolling away.
69th over: South Africa 120-7 (Maharaj 7, Rabada 16) Another lovely shot from Rabada, who drives to the long-on boundary for four. Meanwhile the sun is back out in Port Elizabeth, and it’s blue skies ahead (though windy enough for that to change pretty swiftly).
68th over: South Africa 115-7 (Maharaj 6, Rabada 12) Another maiden, that Rabada six being the only scoring shot in the last four overs. This is a fine stat:
Pope also the 10th England non-wicketkeeper to take six catches in a Test. Stokes was the 9th, in Cape Town. Jennings the 8th, in Colombo, Nov 2018. Seven instances in 141 years before then. (Cook, Hick, Lamb, Greig, Cowdrey, Woolley, Shrewsbury).https://t.co/nSiiAq5c9X
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) January 20, 2020
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67th over: South Africa 115-7 (Maharaj 6, Rabada 12) Maharaj seems pretty untroubled by whatever Broad can throw at him, at least until the last, which stays low but passes safely under his bat and well wide of the stumps. “Whatever happened to the tour from hell?” wonders Brian Withington. “Whiplash-inducing change in fortune and narrative for the red ball team - how long before canny all-rounder Joe Root is pronounced best ever captain? Rejoice and pass the smelling salts!”
66th over: South Africa 115-7 (Maharaj 6, Rabada 12) Bingo! Rabada smashes Root high over long off for six!
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65th over: South Africa 109-7 (Maharaj 6, Rabada 6) A maiden over from Broad to Maharaj. There were two slips in place this time, but they see no action.
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64th over: South Africa 109-7 (Maharaj 6, Rabada 6) Root is indeed bowling himself, and there’s a drop as the ball is edged to the left of Sibley at second slip and he can’t react in time to collect.
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63rd over: South Africa 106-7 (Maharaj 5, Rabada 4) The third ball brings the first wicket of the day, and the last the first boundary. It’s off Rabada’s outside edge, but there’s only one slip in place and it goes wide of him and runs away.
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WICKET! Philander c Pope b Broad 13 (South Africa 102-7)
And so it begins! Well, continues! Philander gets a thick edge onto his front pad, and the ball loops up to Pope, who takes it diving forwards!
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Right then. The players are out and ready for action. Stuart Broad has the ball in his hands. Let’s (watch other people) do this!
England are 18 overs away from a new ball. Root will probably bowl a few of those, in search of his five-for. Perhaps they’ll give Wood two or three overs at the start of the day, before wrapping him up until they get a look at a fresh cherry. “A fine crisp day today in the UK,” writes John Starbuck. “Let’s see if we can crunch our way through the Saffies again, eh? Not often one gets to write that kind of sentence, either.”
Stuart Broad has been interviewed by Sky this morning, in blazing sunshine.
It’s one of those pitches that will offer something every few overs if you put the ball in the right areas. It was a brilliant toss to win. It’s one of those pitches where if you don’t win the toss you can’t win the game. But for us to get nearly 500 runs and the young players in the team do a lot of the work and stamp their authority on Test cricket is probably the highlight of our trip. There’s a huge amount of talent. We know it can take a bit of time to settle in to Test cricket. The great thing about the young players that I see at the moment is how quickly they’re learning, how quickly they want to learn. It’s great for me, walking into the changing room each day and everyone’s buzzing to be here. It’s a great environment to be in at the moment.
Sky’s broadcast commences, with confirmation that it is, for now, cloudy, breezy and dry. Then Nasser Hussain lays into South Africa’s lamentable performance against England’s spin yesterday.
Weather update: it looks like we should have a dry morning, at the very least, but would be lucky to have an entirely dry day.
Hello world!
England need four wickets. South Africa need one miracle. Welcome to the day five!
For the second day in a row play will start with South Africa six wickets down. Yesterday they lost their final four wickets within 24 balls and for the addition of one run. They can only do better today (surely?). Perhaps of more concern to England will be the weather, which as I write this (on Sunday evening UK time) looks potentially, rather than certainly, rainy. If it stays dry, South Africa are surely doomed. Here’s some pre-play reading:
And here’s Vic Marks’ report on day four:
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