During the three Tests in England, the Proteas batted five times, scored a total of 943 runs for the loss of 50 wickets. They have averaged 188 per innings and only had four partnerships of more than 50 runs. It’s no wonder they ended up losing the series 2-1.

On Monday, England completed a comeback from 1-0 down and delivered the final denouement on a series that had promised so much for the Proteas.  

Zak Crawley’s crisp drive for a boundary off Marco Jansen after 28 minutes of play, on the final morning of day five (effectively day three) of the final Test, ended the misery.

England under new coach Brendon McCullum promised to play entertaining and aggressive cricket. Nicknamed ‘Bazball’ after the coach’s middle name, England were not infallible with the bat, but they never deviated from their plan.

The struggling Crawley’s boundary to win, and his unbeaten 69 was a microcosm of the clarity of thinking in the England camp.

Under McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, who embodies the approach on the field, England have won six of seven Tests. Prior to McCullum’s appointment, they had won one of their previous 17 Tests. It’s been a remarkable turnaround by England.

“Our approach is about the clarity of messaging and I thanked the players for buying into this,” Stokes said in a TV interview after the match. “They have the confidence to follow it. We will always play in a way we feel will entertain people.”

Muddied thinking

The Proteas, by contrast, never seemed to settle on what their best approach would be. Four seamers destroyed England and their Bazball in the first Test at Lord’s. Then they deviated and went for spin in the second Test and returned to seam in the final Test while changing the batting lineup.

Ultimately though, it came down to runs — or rather the lack of them from South Africa.

Test cricket cannot be sustainably successful without batters scoring runs and putting together partnerships. The pace bowlers, as magnificent as they were (until the final England innings of the series), are not in the miracle business.

Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje, at various times throughout the series, were excellent. They more than held up their end of the unwritten team contract.

Keshav Maharaj of South Africa drops Alex Lees of England during Day Four of the Third LV= Insurance Test Match between England and South Africa at The Kia Oval on September 11, 2022 in London, England. (Photo: Davidson/Getty Images for Surrey CCC)

In Jansen’s case, he also chipped in valuably with the bat, underlining what a blunder it was to leave him out of the second Test at Old Trafford. But more of that later.  

“We enjoyed a good first innings with the bat at Lord’s. We have to be blunt about it, we haven’t scored runs and first innings runs in the United Kingdom are important. We have failed to put runs on the board,” Elgar said.

“The bowlers deserve credit and ran in and did everything asked of then, But the batting wasn’t good enough.”

Quite simply the Proteas’ batting fragility has been exposed over nine days of actual play during the three Tests. England required just 33 runs with 10 wickets in hand to win the third Test and complete a 2-1 series at the Oval on Monday. The home team duly delivered the last rites on a series that started so promisingly for the tourists.  

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Toss up

Test cricket is about taking 20 wickets to win a match, which the Proteas bowlers only managed in the first Test at Lord’s. But it has to be backed up by scoring runs.

That innings and 12-run victory now seem a million miles away. That victory was built on a 326 run first innings score in reply to England’s 165 all out after Elgar inserted the home team following winning the toss.

It was the only time the Proteas scored more than 200 in the series and unsurprisingly it was the only Test they won. Opener Sarel Erwee top scored with 73 and Elgar and Jansen scored 47 and 48 respectively with Keshav Maharaj chipping in with a valuable 41.

Despite the decent score, the bad batting omens were there. It took two of the lower order to score nearly 100 of the runs as the top order all made starts at failed. And it only got worse as the series went on.

But in isolation, the batting at Lord’s in the only innings the Proteas require gave the tourists a 161-run first innings lead and the bowlers did the rest.

Kagiso Rabada took five for 52 in the first innings and in the second, Anrich Nortje claimed six scalps in total, all at crucial times. In all the Proteas’ fast bowlers picked up 18 of the 20 wickets in that Test.

Inexplicably, they changed the lineup for the second Test at Old Trafford, believing that the pitch would take turn later in the match. With that in mind Jansen, despite four wickets at Lord’s, which didn’t truly reflect the extent of his bowling contribution, and 48 runs with the bat, was left out for spinner Simon Harmer.

That decision was compounded at the toss, under grey skies in a wicket that looked like it would seam prodigiously. Knowing he wanted to bowl last because of the selection of two spinners, Elgar made the error of choosing to bat first after he won the toss. It was a crucial moment in the series.

Elgar’s decision at the toss was dictated by the team lineup, displaying a lack of flexibility in their approach. The Proteas did not play the conditions well and they paid the price.

Elgar and coach Mark Boucher are well aware the batting lineup is inexperienced and also brittle. The obvious choice would have been to offer it as much protection as possible. Winning that toss should have spared the batters having to go out in the worst conditions against a formidable bowling unit.

But Elgar stuck to the predetermined plan and England tore through South Africa’s brittle batting lineup on their way to an innings and 85-run win. 

It started with knocking the Proteas over for 151. In reply, England amassed 415 for nine declared with centuries from Stokes and Ben Foakes.

Harmer took one wicket and barely troubled the batters, to further add insult to injury.

And when the Proteas lost the toss at the Oval and were put in to bat, despite a delayed start following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the outcome seemed inevitable.

The Proteas were reeling at 36 for six on the first morning (of play) and eventually scrapped their way to 118 all out. It was abysmal, but could have been even worse had a recalled Jansen (30) and Maharaj (18) not offered some resistance.

Again, the bowlers came to the rescue with Jansen claiming his first five-fer in Test cricket. England could only total 158 with a marginal lead of 40.

It proved more than enough and despite a decent start with Elgar and Erwee sharing a 58-run first wicket stand to erase the deficit, it was one where they survived rather than thrived. Erwee was eventually removed when Stokes brought himself on.

The England skipper led from the front to break the opening partnership, which got the rest of his bowlers into the action. South Africa crumbled to 169 all out leaving England needing just 130 for victory.

There was hope that the Proteas seamers could produce something special again, but after a long series with no real help from the batting unit, the bowlers were strangely subdued, and England romped to victory.

“It’s been a great series as a team. Had no real standout performances but different people at different times have put their hands up. In a team sport that is what you want,” said Stokes.

“The toss throughout has been one you want to win, but when you do lose it, you still have to execute your skills and plans.”

It was a stinging parting shot by the England captain. But like Stokes’ cricket, it was direct and honest. DM