Cape Town – The first Newlands win since 1957 and Joe Root will go into the record books as the first England captain to lead his side to victory, at this ground, since Peter May. What’s more, all the Phoenix family members, in the team, played their part.
For most of the final day of the second test, the South African batters resisted and frustrated the England bowlers.
Then in the final session the tide turned and England swept away the final wickets to win by 189 runs.
Ben Stokes was the force of nature who broke the South African lower order.
Ben and Newlands must have a mutual attraction
In this one Newlands test, Ben held on to five catches during South Africa’s first innings and scored a quick-fire 72 in England’s second innings.
Yet, for Ben, this was not enough. He channelled all his forces, and skill, to take 3 wickets in the final session.
Two of Ben’s wickets came in two balls. The second of these dismissals involved Zak Crawley.
Fielding in the slips, Zak deflected the ball upwards, off-balance he fell to the ground, gravity then pulled the ball down not towards the Newlands turf, but into Zak’s welcoming hand. This was the second of Zak’s catches on the final day. The first was the vital wicket of de Kock.
Zak also contributed with the bat, scoring a second innings 25 (5 fours).
Jos Buttler scored 29 and 23 and kept wicket with aplomb.
Stuart Broad took 3 wickets in the test, including the final day wicket of van der Dussen after some clever field placing.
Captain Joe Root scored 35 and an important 61. He also showed his leadership skills, with some inspired attacking field placing towards the close of the South African innings.
(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)