England crushed South Africa by 199 runs at the Wanderers ground, Johannesburg in their final game of the World Test Championship.
The visitors won the toss and batted first on a beautiful surface that was expected to last for the duration. England made poor use of it though and were bowled out for 380 after slipping to 40 for 2. Wally Hammond scored his 4th century of the tournament, but was denied the chance to pass 1000 runs by an Alan Donald yorker. Mike Procter was pick of the bowlers, finishing with 3 for 39.
Fred Trueman had Graeme Smith caught behind in the first over of the innings and South Africa never recovered. Trueman took 3 for 34 in a brilliant performance and was ably assisted by Jim Laker, whose spin saw South Africa crumble to 202 all out.
Englands 2nd innings was relatively brief and after losing 4 wickets, Jack Hobbs and Ben Stokes shared a stand of 142 for the 5th wicket. Hobbs was unbeaten on 134 and Stokes on 50 as England declared on 262 for 4. They set South Africa a target of 441, one more than their record chase earlier in this tournament against India.
South Africa knew they had virtually no chance of making the final by this point, and so it was a chance to finish strong and drawl level on points with Pakistan. It was too great a task however and the Proteas collapsed once again. There was uneven bounce in the wicket by now and Englands bowlers all took advantage. Barry Richards top scored with 85 but South Africa were all out for 241, giving England a huge 199 run victory.
South Africa finish 3rd in the tournament and are sure to have several representatives in the Rest of the World team. English players will also be present, but they must think what might have been if they could have played with more consistency.
England 1st Innings 380-10 (122.1 Ov)
WR Hammond 115, IT Botham 67, DCS Compton 63, MJ Procter 3-39, SM Pollock 2-63, HJ Tayfield 2-72
South Africa 1st Innings 202-10 (90.2 Ov)
HM Amla 41, MV Boucher 34, VD Philander 34, JC Laker 4-59, FS Trueman 3-34, SF Barnes 2-47
England 2nd Innings 262-4 (78.3 Ov)
JB Hobbs 134*, BA Stokes 50*
South Africa 2nd Innings 241-10 (89.5 Ov)
BA Richards 85, MV Boucher 39, RG Pollock 26, SF Barnes 3-42, BA Stokes 2-27, FS Trueman 2-41
England win by 199 runs
Man of the match: JB Hobbs
Jack Hobbs batted brilliantly in England's 2nd innings, hitting 134 not out. He faced 257 balls in 342 minutes, hitting 12 fours.
Comments
Post a Comment