South Africa vs England 1st Test Report
South Africa Hammered England in 1st Test
South Africa Tour of England 1st Test Report
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| South Africa tour of England Test Series |
South Africa, they have absolutely drubbed their opponents and have been better at all facts of the game. After batting extremely well to take the lead, their bowlers turned up and showed why they are the real deal. Dale Steyn was at his lethal best as he claimed five scalps and he got goos support from the leg spinner Imran Tahir.
The match will be remembered for the numerous records from
South Africa. Amla became the first
South African
batsman to score a triple hundred, in the process he overtook
AB de Villiers to become the highest individual scorer for his team.
Jacques Kallis continued on his merry run, he now has 43
Test tons to his credit. The
bowlers then joined in the party. On a pitch that held no demons for the
batsmen,
Dale Steyn and company did excellently well to grab the 20
wickets. A nice little present to their skipper,
Graeme Smith who celebrated his 100th
Test with a century as well as a
Test win. The visitors have also broken the jinx of the
Kia Oval, this is their 1st win in 14 atttempts.
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| Ian Bell trying to make a draw for England |
South Africa will look to wrap up the first
Test against
England when they go into the fifth and final day at the
Kia Oval on Monday.
England will resume the day on 102 for 4 in their second innings, still trailing the
South Africans by 150 runs. Comeback man Ravi Bopara (15) and
Ian Bell (14) are at the crease and face
a Herculean task of fetching a draw for
England.
The fourth day on Sunday belonged to the visitors with
Hashim Amla (311 not out) becoming the first
South African player ever to score a triple ton. Veteran genius
Jacques Kallis also made 182 not out as the visitors piled up 637 for 2 declared.
The hosts were awful during their batting in the second innings losing captain
Andrew Strauss (27), Alastair Cook (0), Jonathan Trott (10) and
Kevin Pietersen (16) cheaply.
Dale Steyn turned out to be the chief destroyer in
England’s second innings. The fast
bowler picked up 5 for 56 to have the match figures of 7 for 155. Legspinner
Imran Tahir too grabbed three
wickets.
Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander shared one
wicket apiece.
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| Hashim Amla to his massive triple tons |
South Africa, dominant since the start of the second day, secured an innings and 12-run victory at the
Kia Oval as they broke the back of some stubborn
England resistance either side of the new ball on the final afternoon.
Ian Bell and Matt Prior had given the home side hope, but
Imran Tahir broke the stand and
Dale Steyn then steamed in to finish with 5 for 56.
The result was nothing less than
South Africa deserved for a performance that confirmed what a formidable team they are and they achieved it on a ground where they had not won in 13 previous attempts. Indifferent on the first day, they barely put a foot wrong from the moment they rattled
England on Friday morning. Showing the benefit of a finely balanced attack including pace, swing, seam, accuracy and spin, they did not fret when resistance was being put up.
It was
England's first home defeat since losing to
Pakistan, on the same ground
Kia Oval, in 2010 and their first innings loss since facing
South Africa, at
Johannesburg, earlier that same year. For
South Africa, it continues their run of taking the
series lead each time in
England since readmission although it is the first time they have won the opening
Test since 1994.
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| Dale Steyn gets another wicket |
After loosing England skipper
Andrew Strauss says, '
South Africa played some outstanding
cricket after Day 1. They deserve all the credit.
Graeme Smith,
Hashim Amla and
Jacques Kallis were outstanding. We did not make use of a good platform on the second day. We have lessons to learn and hopefully we will do so before the next
Test. The
wicket was pretty good even today, credit to their
bowlers who kept constant pressure on us. We need to learn from this
Test. I believe that we have an outstanding bowling attack, I am confident that they can take 20
wickets on any track (obviously, not on this). Their
batsmen stuck to their task and did not give us much of a chance. Scoring 300 on any pitch is always a great job,
Hashim Amla was
fantastic. Our preparations were good, we have no excuses on that front. I believe that we can come back and win the next 2
Tests.'
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| Dale Steyn makes his five wickets |
And
South African skipper
Graeme Smith told at media, 'Extremely proud to have won the 1st
Test in the
series, especially after what happened on Day 1. I feel we did not bowl all that badly on the first day. Credit to our
bowlers, they came back well after the first day. The conditions did help us, but we stuck to our task. We have a batting unit that can perform anywhere in the world.
Hashim Amla was amazing, great job done by him. We know that conditions will be very different at Headingley, we are prepared for that.'
Hashim Amla announced man of the match for his excellent not out triple tons.
Hashim Amla says, 'It has been a great experience to bat in this line-up. Nice to get a triple under my belt. I have learnt a lot from my seniors in the team. Batting with
Jacques Kallis is an education. He is one of the best when it comes to batting, I have learnt a lot playing with him.
Graeme Smith is another
batsman with whom I enjoy batting. Swann was bowling very well and we wanted to make sure that he does not pick up early
wickets. Batting is an art, it is all about constructing an innings. I hope that I will continue to bat well in the remainder of the
series.'
Summary of 1st Test :
England 1st innings
Batsmen R B 4's 6's S/R
A Cook 115 295 11 1 38.98
J Trott 71 162 9 0 43.83
M Prior 60 90 9 0 66.67
EXT: 43 B: 2 LB: 24 NB: 14 WD: 3 P: 0 TOT: 385/10 (125.5) RR: 3.05
Bowlers O M R W NB WD E/R
Morne Morkel 24.5 2 72 4 5 2 2.89
Dale Steyn 30 7 99 2 0 0 3.30
Jacques Kallis 19 7 38 2 0 1 2.00
South Africa 1st Inning
Batsmen R B 4's 6's S/R
Graeme Smith 131 273 20 0 47.99
Hashim Amla 311 529 35 0 58.79
Jacques Kallis 182 326 23 1 55.83
EXT: 13 B: 5 LB: 4 NB: 2 WD: 2 P: 0 TOT: 637/2 (189.0) RR: 3.37
Bowlers O M R W NB WD E/R
James Anderson 41 7 116 1 1 0 2.82
Tim Bresnan 37 2 140 1 1 0 3.78
England 2nd Innings
Batsmen R B 4's 6's S/R
Ian Bell 55 220 6 0 25.00
Matt Prior 40 86 5 0 46.51
EXT: 39 B: 10 LB: 16 NB: 12 WD: 1 P , : 0 TOT: 240/10 (97.0) RR: 2.47
Bowlers O M R W NB WD E/R
Dale Steyn 21 6 56 5 0 0 2.66
Imran Tahir 32 7 63 3 6 0 1.96
South Africa won by an innings and 12 runs.
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| Imran Tahir gets another wicket |
The
Test series was built up as the fight for the
World No. 1 rankings. The 1st
Test however was a bit of a dampener on that front with
South Africa hardly breaking a sweat before romping home by an innings.
The
Test series takes a 10 day break before these two teams line up for the 2nd
Test at
Headingley on August 2nd.
Do join us for all the action. For now, cheers and bye from
Kia Oval.
Tags : south africa , england , kia oval , test , batsman , hashim amla , dale steyn , series , imran tahir , jacques kallis , wicket , bowlers , batsmen 
