What a series Robinson is having on his return to this England side and how promising for the future it is that he should reach 50 Test wickets at fewer than 20 apiece.īut if Broad, Anderson and Robinson were all mightily impressive, it was the captain who surely won this series for his side with his double wicket maiden either side of tea. But England kept on coming at them with some devastating swing bowling.Īnderson claimed Keegan Petersen and Broad added Ryan Rickelton before Ollie Robinson joined in the fun to add his seam bowling to the mix and dismiss both Wiaan Mulder and Khaya Zondo. Stokes celebrates the breakthrough as he ended the partnership of captain Elgar and Erweeīoth Anderson and Broad were wicketless before lunch, but now they were near unplayable as South Africa desperately tried to apply themselves and hang on. This will hardly have helped their cause because any newcomer watching riveted towards the end of a pulsating and compelling 'second' day would surely have been baffled and frustrated that play should end with floodlights shining on this famous old ground. He and Brendon McCullum have not only transformed England but rewritten the Test cricket playbook and evidence suggests they are attracting as many new spectators to cricket as the Hundred. His mission all summer has been to promote and even save the oldest and greatest format of the game. Even the ultimate conservative pragmatist must have conceded, with no rain forecast, that it was best to play on for the greater good of Test cricket.īen Stokes' look of incredulity on the Oval balcony was a picture. ![]() Surely even South Africa captain Dean Elgar would have preferred to get the game finished. ![]() Why couldn't the umpires have gone on the evidence of their own eyes rather than their cursed light meters and decided, at 6.37pm, conditions were good enough for another half-hour or so to let England complete their win? ![]() It was like Shakespeare ending his play before we all found out what happened to Romeo and Juliet. Then they all walk off to come back for an anti-climax of a finish on Sunday.
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