Johannesburg — After kicking open the door on Saturday, South Africa’s bowlers managed to blast it off its hinges inside the opening 15 minutes of play on Sunday. An opportunity appeared out of nowhere. Sadly, the Proteas batsmen were unable to capitalize on that opportunity.
The ball was moving about in challenging conditions, and England’s bowlers made good use of that advantage. Using all the good fortune that had left them on the third day, Dean Elgar and Sarel Erwee batted valiantly. Although it was often unsightly, the English bowlers found it to be both effective and annoying.
The duo erased the lead the English had built up after the first innings by recording the Proteas’ only fourth half-century partnership in the series—the second they had shared after Lord’s.
The tension in the visiting dressing room was then restored when Ben Stokes, who is so often the Proteas’ downfall, snapped out Erwee with only his third delivery, 15 minutes before lunch.
After the interval, Elgar was given out lbw by Niton Menon off Stuart Broad for 36, which marked the day’s turning point. The ball would have easily missed the leg stump, according to television replays, but the South African skipper chose not to review. It’s simple to argue after the fact that he should have reviewed, but South African batters’ heads are so clouded these days that common sense has vanished recently.
With the South African total at 83/1, the wicket set off a mini-collapse with Elgar, Keegan Petersen, and Ryan Rickelton all being bowled inside six overs for only 12 more runs.
So what do you do?
Khaya Zondo and Wiaan Mulder adopted the approach of stoic resistance. In some ways, it was a reasonable strategy. They’re both playing in their debut series game and are still somewhat inexperienced in Test cricket. Perhaps they reasoned that by making England’s bowlers work more, the ball’s hardness would have been diminished, and by spending more time at the wicket on a relatively warm day, the surface would have been dead. The Proteas’ chances of winning the match decreased as a result of their 25-run partnership in 14 overs, which also gave England the opportunity to seize the initiative. By the time the Proteas finally managed to slip one past the defenses, the scoreboard had suffered minimal loss.
Zondo, who was beginning to look excellent, got caught up against another blistering in-ducker and was trapped lbw for 16 while Mulder chopped one into his stumps from Ollie Robinson that seamed back into him.
At that time, South Africa’s advantage was a paltry 80, so expecting the lower order to save them from disaster once again seemed excessive. England had a 130-run goal to reach when Stokes, bowling on one leg, returned to claim two wickets.
After taking his first Test five wicket haul earlier in the day, Marco Jansen dropped Alex Lees off Kagiso Rabada’s first delivery, denying South Africa the opportunity to make the England team’s nerves fray.
The two England openers, who were still under pressure, then unleashed a barrage of hard drives and quick running between the wickets, putting the hosts within striking distance of a win until the umpires ruled that the light wasn’t suitable for play to be completed. Stokes’ expression of surprise wonderfully captured the ridiculousness of the situation.
South Africa had a chance to win this series. They may reflect back and regret overthinking their Old Trafford selection method, which led them to ignore Jansen. That is a small problem, however. The batting is the larger one. South Africa has lost a series because they didn’t follow even the most fundamental rules of that discipline.
To win the series, England has to score 33 runs on Monday morning.