20 January 2020
3rd Test, Day 5: England 499 for 9 dec, South Africa 209 and 237.
England win by an innings and 53 runs
Thankfully (if you’re English), the bad weather held off long enough for England to seal a dominant victory - their first overseas win by an innings since I was fortunate enough to witness three such victories versus Australia in 2010/11 (a prime opportunity to plug my blog posts from that memorable tour).
When Stuart Broad once again dismissed Vernon Philander in the first over, it seemed as if we could see a repeat of the previous day’s capitulation by South Africa’s tail. The only difference this time was that big Vern didn’t even last till the end of the Barmy Army’s stirring rendition of Jerusalem. Even some solid defence from Keshav Maharaj, as if chastened by his ugly swipe of the previous day, and nice stroke play from Kagiso Rabada, in his last action of the series, only appeared to delay the inevitable as the hosts were soon staring down the barrel at 138 for 9.
Yet cricket, like life itself, is rarely that predictable and we were treated to one of those joyous - and frankly bizarre - last wicket partnerships that defy reasoned logic and analysis. After all, after the events of the first four days, who could possibly have predicted:
A record 10th wicket Test partnership at St. George’s Park from Maharaj and Dane Paterson
A thrilling 71 from Maharaj, including three sumptuous sixes (one of which was caught expertly by a member of the security staff, bravo)
A clean-hit 39 off 40 balls from Paterson, who yesterday looked like he’d never held a bat before (but clearly can)
Joe Root bowling … and bowling … and bowling - like it was his ball or something
Root taking the new ball and BOWLING WITH IT HIMSELF ...
… with which he equalled the all-time Test record for runs conceded in a single over (34, including four byes)
England’s finest bowlers suddenly losing the ability to bowl at tail-enders’ stumps
More seriously, South Africa coming within minutes of reaching the lunch interval with a wicket still in hand
The last wicket falling to a run-out (direct hit by Sam Curran) while the batsmen attempted the 100th run of their partnership.
Maybe it’s just as well all of his happened, as otherwise there would have been precious little for commentators and fans to argue about on Day 5. As it is, the discussions raged on - falling largely into two camps:
It was all tremendous fun and no-one did, or should, take it too seriously. It was also important for England to save their quick bowlers for Johannesburg, which starts with only three days break in between. Winning by an innings and 53 runs is similar to winning by an innings and 150 runs - it's still a complete stuffing. Fair enough.
Root over-bowled himself in a futile attempt to take his “five-for”, then lost control and presided over an embarrassing débâcle of bowling and fielding by his team. We should have won by a lot more. Serious questions have to be asked, blah.
As ever, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. After the way he bowled on Day 4 (and for his excellent captaincy throughout), Joe had earned the chance for a shot at five wickets (let's face it, he will never get a better chance). No problem with that at all, it just went on far too long - although to be fair he did have another sharp chance put down by (I think) Dom Sibley at slip. The man in front of me seemed in little doubt of Root’s folly, channelling his inner Boycott to bellow: “My granny could have got these two out by now!”
The main issue for me was that England flirted narrowly with seeing the innings extend into the lunch interval - a challenge to the weather gods that could have proved costly if the rain had set in as it had on the previous two days. For what it’s worth, the day stayed dry despite gale-force winds, but as more heavy rain lashes against my hotel window I would contend this was more by luck than judgement. From his relaxed demeanour, maybe Joe Root has special access to an accurate weather forecaster the rest of us don’t know about. In any case, the run-out of the gallant Maharaj spared us the nervous wait - as well as allowing lunch to be taken in appropriately celebratory manner at Barney’s. All’s well that ends well - congratulations to a resurgent England on a cracking performance overall.
The next topic of debate is how the England team could line up later this week in Johannesburg. Partly due to the high altitude, the Wanderers ground historically favours seam, rather than spin, bowling. England should welcome the return from injury of Jofra Archer, who has been practising hard for the last few days of this match. Still wearing a protective bandage on his troublesome left elbow, Archer looked as if he was back to full pace by the final day. I’m sure every England fan would be excited to see Archer and Wood bowl fast together - but if so, who would give way? Speculation here is that it could be Dom Bess - which would be incredibly harsh after his excellent bowling here and at Newlands. Personally I’d like him to stay in the side and have a decent run at it, but it’s arguably true that, on a seamer's pitch, Root and Denly could provide any spin still required at the Wanderers. Horses for courses, and all that.
Other possible options could be:
Jos Buttler, who had another poor game with bat and gloves, to drop out and Ollie Pope to keep wicket - as he did in an emergency in New Zealand. I suppose it's possible but this would weaken the batting (at least on paper) and also take Pope out of his specialist short-leg position where he is outstanding. A direct swap of Buttler for Jonny Bairstow (a.k.a. "rinse and repeat") could happen but would be highly counter-productive at this stage - as well as not solving this problem of finding a spot for Archer.
One of the other seamers to make way. But I can’t see Stuart Broad being left out as he continues to go from strength to strength, and Sam Curran always offers something different (left-arm swing) to the rest of the attack in addition to his combative batting. So Curran would also be most unlucky if he missed out.
Whatever England’s selection dilemmas, these are undoubtedly nice problems to have - particularly in comparison to South Africa, who will be missing Rabada due to suspension and may consider some selective changes in the rest of their line-up. While the home side surely can’t play quite as badly again as they did in Port Elizabeth, I would fully expect England to bring the momentum and form to clinch a series win in the final Test.