South Africa took a big step towards qualification for the knockout phase with an amazing 20 run victory against England.
They won the toss on a flat looking Trent Bridge wicket and quickly set about the English bowlers. Bruce Mitchell and Herbie Taylor made an opening stand of 147 as Englands bowlers toiled on a damp first day. Mitchell batted beautifully and was eventually dismissed just one short of a double century, but he had already laid the ground for a big South African total. The Proteas declared on 435 for 5 at tea on Day 2. Larwood and Farnes were the pick of the English bowlers.
England then sputtered to 330 in their first innings. Eddie Paynter top scored with 73, while Jimmy Blanckenberg starred with ball, taking 3 for 42 with his medium pacers. South Africa had a lead of 105, but the pitch was still pretty good for batting.
England needed a big performance in the field and they got it, thanks to Hedley Verity and Harold Larwood. Larwood took 4 for 68 and Verity 4 for 32 in 20 overs as the South Africans were bowled out for 181. England missed fast bowler Ken Farnes, who pulled up lame in his 2nd over and was unable to bowl. Blanckenberg and Crisp added a crucial 29 runs for the 9th wicket and England were set a target of 287 to win in just under 4 sessions. The wicket was starting to exhibit variable bounce however, and it was never going to be an easy chase.
England started brightly though, with an opening stand of 122 between Hobbs and Hammond. They then lost 7 wickets for 70 runs as Blanckenberg and Owen-Smith turned the game South Africas way. Englands middle order was blown away and only an unbeaten 43 from Harold Larwood kept them in the game. A partnership of 57 with Hedley Verity and then 14 with Bill Voce took them close, but Farnes was finally trapped LBW by Blanckenberg to seal a brilliant 20 run win for South Africa.
England must now watch and wait as South Africa host Australia at Johannesburg in the final test match to determine who will qualify from this group. In the event of an Australian win, then the average score per wicket between teams will be used as a tie breaker.
England Inter-War: JB Hobbs; WR Hammond [c]; M Leyland; E Paynter; LEG Ames; MW Tate; G Duckworth [w]; H Larwood; H Verity; W Voce; K Farnes
South Africa Inter-War: HW Taylor; B Mitchell; EAB Rowan; RE Grieveson [w]; HG Owen-Smith; KG Viljoen; HB Cameron [c]; DPB Morkel; JM Blanckenberg; RJ Crisp; AJ Bell
South Africa Inter-War 1st Innings 435-5 (120 Ov)
B Mitchell 199, HW Taylor 74, RE Grieveson 52, H Larwood 3-120, K Farnes 2-75
England Inter-War 1st Innings 330-10 (110.1 Ov)
E Paynter 73, G Duckworth 47, H Larwood 46, JM Blanckenberg 3-42, AJ Bell 3-48, DPB Morkel 2-60
South Africa Inter-War 2nd Innings 181-10 (67.5 Ov)
KG Viljoen 42, HG Owen-Smith 36, B Mitchell 27, H Verity 4-32, H Larwood 4-68, MW Tate 2-32
England Inter-War 2nd Innings 266-10 (99 Ov)
JB Hobbs 71, WR Hammond 62, H Larwood 43*, JM Blanckenberg 3-53, HG Owen-Smith 2-31, DPB Morkel 2-43
South Africa Inter-War win by 20 runs
Man of the match: B Mitchell
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Bruce Mitchell hit 226 runs in the match and batted for almost 8 hours, setting up a huge win against England and giving South Africa every chance of making the knockout phase of the tournament
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