Johannesburg – With England romping to a nine-wicket victory on day five of the third and final Test at The Oval on Monday, South Africa were left ruing a poor display with the bat as they crashed to a 2-1 series defeat.
IOL Sport’s cricket writer Stuart Hess looks at the key moments during the series.
TOSS – Crucial at Lord’s and The Oval. In the first Test, the ball moved all over the place and the Proteas quartet made good use of that assistance. Captain Dean Elgar admitted he had to fight hard with himself not to bat there. At Old Trafford, he followed his primary instinct, which was to bat, and with two spinners his hand was somewhat forced. Ben Stokes won the toss in the final Test and even though he had to wait three days to unleash his bowlers, there was still enough in the surface to make the Proteas’s lives impossible.
RUNS – SA’s totals in the last four innings of the series: 151, 179, 118 and 169. You can have the greatest attack in the world, but if you’re not scoring runs they can’t win you Test matches. SA’s batters scored one fifty – Sarel Erwee’s 73 in the first Test.
STOKES – In 15 Tests against the Proteas, he averages 45.26 with the bat and has scored four centuries. His 39 wickets have come at an average of 26.35. His century in Manchester turned that match decisively in his team’s favour and he bowled some magnificent spells throughout, often when conditions were toughest. Arch-nemesis feels like an understatement. Stokes has won 10 and lost five Tests against the Proteas and he is yet to lose a series. They just can’t stop him.
JANSEN – Marco Jansen really announced himself by taking 19 wickets against India last summer, and this series he has further underlined his value to the team, both with bat and ball. His first “five-for” at The Oval was richly deserved, and helped keep the Proteas in the series, but the batting ultimately failed them.
44 – Test matches without a draw for the Proteas, a run dating back to 2017 (stat courtesy of Cricket SA chief statistician Andrew Samson). Pitches in South Africa have been lively, and some of the pitches SA have played on in that period have been very bowler friendly – some raging turners in India, green tops in New Zealand, and big seamers in England. That last draw by the way was against New Zealand in Hamilton, and the Proteas would have lost that Test, had rain not washed out the last day.
ANTHEM – Besides some arrogance from a section of the English cricket press – who tried to gaslight SA about not playing an extra day in the final Test – it must be said the ceremony before the start of play at The Oval, was superbly produced. The Proteas may have been bit part actors in the whole thing, but it is a memory that no doubt all the players will take with them. Laura Wright, the soprano who performed the anthems, did so superbly.
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