England pacemen rule to take grip on series
Wood leads the attack as South Africa dismantled Tail-enders put on crucial 82 for last-wicket stand
England’s bowlers cut down South Africa with the bat and then the ball to take a firm hold of the final Test on a day when the Wanderers Stadium crackled with life.
The joy was provided by the South Africa supporters in the Unity Stand singing in Xhosa through the afternoon but the decisive action came from Mark Wood as England dominated.
Few cricketers are as eye-catching as Wood stretching himself to the limit to bowl at 90mph, but he also bruised South Africa with the bat too, sharing a last-wicket stand of 82 with Stuart Broad that sucked any remaining life out of Faf du Plessis’s fading team.
Wood followed the big hitting with another display of hostile fast bowling to take three for 21, as England’s bowlers blended a potent mix of pace and discipline to leave South Africa 88 for six, 312 runs behind and sinking fast.
Joe Root said before the Test that winning the series 3-1 would be his best achievement as captain and the “sky’s the limit” for his team.
His team glided along at four an over with the bat before applying pressure with the ball by bowling full and utilising conditions better than the hosts.
Wood proved he could cope with back-to-back Tests by dismissing Pieter Malan with a 94.4 mph ball that was ranked as the second quickest wickettaking ball by an Englishman.
How Jofra Archer must be hurting with envy over missing this Test and bowling in the thin, high altitude air after flogging himself on dead New Zealand pitches before Christmas.
With Wood charging in, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and Broad starved the batsmen of opportunities to break free as England’s bowlers combined to put their foot on South African throats.
If only South Africa had done the same to England’s last pair. Wood and Broad closed their eyes, swung hard and the ball flew through the air. They peppered the boundary with seven sixes and four fours in the highest 10thwicket stand at the ground.
Du Plessis resorted to eight fielders on the boundary for Broad, spreading the field as if this were Kevin Pietersen in his pomp rather than a No 11 whose batting has collapsed in recent years.
With Vernon Philander grazing in the outfield and not keen on denting his figures in his final Test; Anrich Nortje exhausted after dragging South Africa back in the game; and no spinner in the side to out-think tail-enders, it was down to debutant Beuran Hendricks and Dane Paterson, in his second Test, to try to stem the flow. They were flogged.
The fifty partnership took just 27 balls. Wood slapped sixes over extra cover like Jos Buttler in Indian Premier League mode while Broad hit more sixes than ever before in a Test innings. South Africa were out of ideas and out of steam. Their bowling lacked teeth and know-how and the tail-enders made merry to lift England to 400, about 100 more than they had targeted.
It was hard on Nortje, who has been the find of the series for South Africa. He stepped up in the place of the banned Kagiso Rabada, hitting the pitch hard and bowling with heart to pull England back after Joe Root and Ollie Pope batted with a verve that bodes well for the next few years.
They complement each other so well with a catalogue of attacking shots to draw on and already have an intuitive understanding, rotating the strike. During their partnership of 101 it was impossible to tell which was the senior player as Pope outscored his captain.
South Africa’s tactics spoke of their lack of confidence and the scrambled mind of a captain with vast experience at the Wanderers, but tired of the job. Instead of pitching it up and packing the cordon on a pitch with good carry, Du Plessis adopted leg-side fields. It just fed runs to Root and Pope, who both utilised the ramp shot as England made batting look easy.
Words must have been exchanged at the drinks break, for South Africa were renewed afterwards. Pope played on to the first ball from Nortje, Root drove hard and was caught behind and Curran was out for the third golden duck of his Test career as England lost three for
Du Plessis resorted to eight fielders on the boundary as if this was Kevin Pietersen in his pomp
11. Buttler cannot be faulted for effort. He volunteered for extra nets leading into the game and was determined, if not fluent, as wickets fell at the other end. He fell trying to hit his way back into form and walked off looking like a man who knows his Test place is slipping away. Nortje had to be told by Philander to hold up the match ball to acknowledge the crowd for his five-fer. Soon enough the crowd were seeing plenty of the ball up close as Wood and Broad smashed it repeatedly into the stands. Broad was off line with the new ball and Curran bowled well without reward at first but they gave nothing away and South Africa were going nowhere. Wood made the breakthrough with the ball of the match to remove Malan and break the early deadlock. Rassie van der Dussen has struggled throughout against Curran’s left-arm angle and edged him to Stokes at slip for a duck. Dean Elgar gave catching practice to extra cover off Stokes and Du Plessis was harshly give out lbw to Woakes as the light fades on his career. Temba Bavuma was given a huge reception by the crowd, a sign that his presence has more importance than the runs he produces, but he did not last long with Stokes taking a fine catch, low down at slip off Wood.