Strauss steers England to Number 8

An unbeaten 94 from Andrew Strauss anchored England to an eventually comfortable seven-wicket victory in the First Test at Port Elizabeth, the first time in history they have won eight consecutive Tests.

Resuming overnight at 93-3, England needed less than ten overs to account for the remaining 49 runs required for victory, with Middlesex opener Strauss accounting for 41 from his blade. The result was never really in doubt once Strauss had hit rookie Dale Steyn out of the attack with three boundaries inside the paceman's opening two overs of the day, including a six hooked from outside off stump.

The self-introduction of Graeme Smith into the attack made little difference and it was fittingly Strauss who applied the finishing touch as he scythed Makhaya Ntini past point for the winning boundary to take his score on to 94* and England past the victory target of 142, Graeme Thorpe playing the supporting role and remaining unbowed on 31.

In a game characterised by England never being far from the driving seat, but always leaving the passenger door open, it's been typical of the side's current form that two men in particular - Strauss and Simon Jones - stood up and were counted when it really mattered. With the majority of the side putting in solid performaces, it didn't really matter that Steve Harmison had one of his worst games in the Three Lions shirt.

With the teams moving on to Durban for the Boxing Day Test, the promise of a more livelier pitch will buoy the spirits of the England seam attack as they strive to turn eight consecutive wins into nine. Mark Butcher's first innings 79, despite his second innings failure, is likely to be enough to protect him from the challenge of Robert Key.

For the hosts, Thami Tsolekile's position with the gloves will be under pressure from both opening batsman AB de Villiers and the experienced Mark Boucher, whilst question marks are appearing over Zander de Bruyn's aptitudes at Test level, with Hashim Amla waiting in the wings. Nicky Boje, sorely missed as the Port Elizabeth track began to turn, should return (injury-permitting) - with either Andrew Hall, Dale Steyn or de Bruyn possible candidates for replacement.

England will definitely be the happier party as the sides make their plans for Kingsmead, but as their skipper Michael Vaughan acknowledges, there are several areas where they need to work upon if they are to maintain the high standards set in the summer. As for South Africa, Graeme Smith summed things up well - Test matches are won and lost on the fourth and fifth days, and on the afternoon of day four, the Proteas didn't perform at the crunch

Most Consecutive Test Victories
16: Australia (October 1999 to March 2001)
11: West Indies (April to December 1984)
09: South Africa (March 2002 to May 2003)
09: Sri Lanka (Sept 2001 to March 2002)
08: Australia (December 1920 to July 1921)
08: England (May to December 2004)

South Africa 337
HH Dippenaar 110, JA Rudolph 93
MJ Hoggard 3-56, A Flintoff 3-72
England 425
AJ Strauss 126, MA Butcher 79
M Ntini 3-75, SM Pollock 2-61
South Africa 229
JH Kallis 61, GC Smith 55
SP Jones 4-39, AF Giles 2-39
England 145-3
AJ Strauss 94*, GP Thorpe 31*
M Ntini 1-24, DW Steyn 1-29

England won by 7 wickets
England lead the 5-Test series 1-0

CricketWeb.net Player of the Match
Andrew Strauss (England) - 126 and 94*

Posted by Neil