superkingdave
Hall of Fame Member
And so to the final match in the series. Win or leave empty handed, one change in the side, the enforced replacement of the injured/banned Bennett. In come Michael Powell(Glamorgan) for his debut. England win the vital toss and again choose to bat.
The debutant is an early loss missing a straight one from Kemp, 21-1. Nichani plays fluently with Vimes but after a partnership of 73, he is out just before the lunch interval, 98-2 at lunch. In the afternoon they lose 3 further wickets, Vimes for 78 after a partnership of 58 with Cloete(39), Bell the other man to go. 192-5 at tea. The evening session is one of solid batting by Bluefox and Craze as they seek to ensure a good total, they take England to 277-5 at close of play.
The next day dawns cloudy and with a fair amount of rain 2hrs and 33mmins are lost. Nevertheless there is time for Bluefox to score another vital ton and Craze to score a 50. The SA become the ones to feel the power of the lower order as over the afternoon of the second day and the morning of the third, Malone scores his debut test century and is ably supported by Giles as England post 545-8. Half the test match is gone though so a win might be tricky.
The there was the other terrible 2, Boucher and Pollock, they provided the impressive Kallis with support for a while Boucher removed by Giles before an amazing spell of bowling from Malone, with the 4th ball of the 93rd over Malone bowled Pollock, with the 5th he had Adams caught behind and with the last he had Shultz plumb infront. A Hat-trick for the CW and England Star
SA all out 254, Kallis fanstastic unbeaten 132, and forced to follow on.
Kirsten went bowled Anderson. 4-1. Smith and Kallis held England up with a half century partnership but Malone broke it by catching Kallis Leg Before, Smith followed edging Giles to Vimes behind the sticks.
From then on it was the Andrew Cloete show. The leg spinner put in his best ever spell, mesmerising the SA batsman with a variety and accuracy not seen since, well never. Gibbs was first to go, soon followed by Kent and Mckenzie, acrobatically caught and bowled. Boucher lasted no time and then Kemp was brilliantly stumped by keeper Vimes. Cloete then bowled Pollock and Adams neck and crop to finish with astonishing figures of 20.4-9-25-7 and secure the match for England.
It was still not enough to secure the MOM though as a century and a hat trick earned Malone the honours, the Test series shared 1-1.
England won by an innings and 127 runs
Man of the match: B Malone
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The debutant is an early loss missing a straight one from Kemp, 21-1. Nichani plays fluently with Vimes but after a partnership of 73, he is out just before the lunch interval, 98-2 at lunch. In the afternoon they lose 3 further wickets, Vimes for 78 after a partnership of 58 with Cloete(39), Bell the other man to go. 192-5 at tea. The evening session is one of solid batting by Bluefox and Craze as they seek to ensure a good total, they take England to 277-5 at close of play.
The next day dawns cloudy and with a fair amount of rain 2hrs and 33mmins are lost. Nevertheless there is time for Bluefox to score another vital ton and Craze to score a 50. The SA become the ones to feel the power of the lower order as over the afternoon of the second day and the morning of the third, Malone scores his debut test century and is ably supported by Giles as England post 545-8. Half the test match is gone though so a win might be tricky.
Ricaldo Anderson gets England off to a good start with the wicket of Smith, Kirsten is his usual obstinate self before Cloete sneaks one through his defences. Gibbs and Mckenzie then hold up the England bowlers without really getting in Cloete removes Gibbs and then Hoggard bowls an important spell which starts with the removal of Mckenzie on the evening of day 3 then comes back in the morning to remove Kent and Kemp, the two who have caused a lot of problems this series. 166-6.
The there was the other terrible 2, Boucher and Pollock, they provided the impressive Kallis with support for a while Boucher removed by Giles before an amazing spell of bowling from Malone, with the 4th ball of the 93rd over Malone bowled Pollock, with the 5th he had Adams caught behind and with the last he had Shultz plumb infront. A Hat-trick for the CW and England Star
SA all out 254, Kallis fanstastic unbeaten 132, and forced to follow on.
Now for the follow on, once again England could sniff victory, this time they did not want to be denied.
Kirsten went bowled Anderson. 4-1. Smith and Kallis held England up with a half century partnership but Malone broke it by catching Kallis Leg Before, Smith followed edging Giles to Vimes behind the sticks.
From then on it was the Andrew Cloete show. The leg spinner put in his best ever spell, mesmerising the SA batsman with a variety and accuracy not seen since, well never. Gibbs was first to go, soon followed by Kent and Mckenzie, acrobatically caught and bowled. Boucher lasted no time and then Kemp was brilliantly stumped by keeper Vimes. Cloete then bowled Pollock and Adams neck and crop to finish with astonishing figures of 20.4-9-25-7 and secure the match for England.
It was still not enough to secure the MOM though as a century and a hat trick earned Malone the honours, the Test series shared 1-1.
**********************************************
England won by an innings and 127 runs
Man of the match: B Malone
**********************************************
Personally very pleased with first (or second, unsure) test fifty, but would like to get dropped soon, because I really am not churning out consistent performances...
