Johannesburg — The highs of Lord’s seem a very long time ago after South Africa suffered a three-day defeat at Old Trafford, that will leave question marks over selection, the captain’s decision at the toss and possibly the end of a Test career that offered much promise.
There was resistance from Keegan Petersen and Rassie van der Dussen on Saturday, but once separated — in a bruising spell from the relentless Ben Stokes — the English used the second new ball to obliterate the Proteas lower order and level the series at one match a piece, setting up a series decider at The Oval starting on September 8.
The South Africans were never able to extract themselves from a hole at 77/5 at lunch on the first day, after Dean Elgar had chosen to bat under cloudy skies. The decision was in one sense forced upon him by the selection of Simon Harmer as a second frontline spinner, but also Elgar’s own mindset — similar to the one he adopted at Christchurch earlier this year — that demanded greater self-assurance from his own batting unit.
However tactically that was possibly the wrong call. England’s top order is a fragile one and the Proteas missed taking the opportunity of putting them under pressure in tricky conditions on the first morning, even if South Africa had two spinners in their starting line-up.
Instead, once he and Sarel Erwee were out, the flaky middle order was exposed and England gained a huge advantage.
Thereafter the Proteas’s nemesis, Stokes inflicted what has now become his customary pain against them. First with the bat, he made a masterful hundred, that wasn’t all out attack as England’s approach has been in recent times, but rather the perfect balance between defence and aggression that is demanded from a Test innings.
And then on Saturday, he did more damage with the ball.
Through sheer will power, with a 60-over old ball, he removed Petersen and Van der Dussen in the middle of a 14-over spell after that pair had batted resolutely in a fourth wicket partnership in which they added 87 runs.
Allied to that will power, the England captain utilises plenty of skill to achieve his success. Petersen can attest to that, as he got a delivery that jumped off a full length, and clipped his glove, to end his resilient innings.
In the previous over from Stokes he’d removed Van der Dussen, with the ball that the right hand batter should have left alone. However such is the atmosphere that Stokes creates seemingly through force of personality, that it becomes also most impossible not to get sucked into the vortex.
The vacant looks on Proteas balcony indicated disappointment, at how this Test unfolded, and in Aiden Markram’s case probably a thought that this was his last match — for a long while at least.
Van der Dussen nursing a broken finger, which the Proteas management later revealed would rule him out of the last Test, joined Petersen after England had dominated the opening hour.
Elgar and Erwee, it was hoped would use up a bunch of time together, but James Anderson ended the South African captain’s stay at the crease, with a brilliant one-two punch, while Erwee was in two minds about what to do against Ollie Robinson, and edged a ball he wanted to leave alone.
Poor old Markram wafted at wide ball from Broad after he’d gotten a reprieve against the same bowler earlier, when he was bowled off a no ball.
Once the fourth wicket partnership was broken, England just had to hold on until the second new ball could be taken. The end, when it came, came quickly, with the last five wickets lost in 31 balls for just seven runs.
After the high at Lord’s this was a chastening experience for Elgar’s team and the Proteas have plenty of thinking to do over the next 11 days.
SCORECARD
South Africa 151 and 179
England 415/9 decl.
England won by an innings and 85 runs