England vs South Africa LIVE: Cricket score and third Test result as England seal series victory
England notched the 33 runs they needed to win the game at The Oval and secure a 2-1 series victory over the Proteas
England polished off the remaining runs they needed to beat South Africa by nine wickets in the third Test at the Oval on Monday morning to secure a 2-1 series victory.
Openers Zak Crawley and Alex Lees were still at the crease as the hosts began the day requiring just 33 runs for victory after bad light stopped play on Sunday evening.
Lees was dropped by Proteas wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne from the third ball of the morning and then survived another scare when a thick edge flew over Keegan Petersen at third slip to go for four but the Proteas made a breakthrough on the penultimate delivery of the third over of the day, with Lees’ fortune finally running out as a review showed he had been trapped lbw by Kagiso Rabada.
The Durham batter was out for 39 with England 22 runs from clinching the series but Ollie Pope joined Crawley at the crease to quickly knock them off, as the under-fire opener eased the pressure on himself somewhat by ending unbeaten on 69 and cap a remarkable summer for England’s Test team.
Follow reaction to the third Test below:
England 133-5 (27.2), Pope 67, Foakes 0, Rabada 0-67 (9.2)
Ollie Pope collects England four more runs from Kagiso Rabada with another fine stroke through the leg side. The Surrey man has been the only batter to make a significant score today.
Wicket! Stokes 6 (9) c. Erwee b, Nortje, England 129-5 (26.5)
Stokes is gone! A rather hectic innings from the England captain comes to an end as he attempts to bomb Nortje through the covers and edges the ball to Sarel Erwee at first slip.
England are five down with a lead of just 11.
England 128-4 (26.2), Pope 63, Stokes 6, Nortje 0-20 (5.2)
Dropped! It’s harsh to call this a drop as Dean Elgar didn’t even get to the ball. Anrich Nortje replaces Marco Jansen and Ben Stokes tries to smack him out of the attack.
The bottom hand comes off the bat as Stokes skies it over to mid-off. Elgar is slow getting to the ball and has to dive full length to take the catch.
The ball flies through his outstretched arms and hits the turf. The England captain gets a reprieve.
England 127-4 (26), Pope 63, Stokes 5, Rabada 0-63 (8)
Ollie Pope ends the over with another boundary as he flicks Rabada away through midwicket. Keshav Maharaj sprints after the ball and tries to keep it in play but he makes contact with the rope as he pulls the ball back and Pope adds four to his tally.
England 123-4 (25.3), Pope 59, Stokes 1, Rabada 0-59 (7.3)
Ben Stokes dinks Kagiso Rabada around the corner behind square leg for a single and England take the lead.
With Pope on strike, Rabada gets one to bounce slightly higher and hits the corner edge of Pope’s bat but the ball flies over Keegan Petersen at slip and runs away for four runs.
England 118-4 (25), Pope 55, Stokes 4, Jansen 4-34 (11)
England are level! Pope clips Jansen away and collects two runs to bring the scores level at the end of Jansen’s 11th over.
England 116-4 (24.2), Pope 53, Stokes 4, Jansen 4-32 (10.2)
50 for Ollie Pope! He gets a top edge on an attempted pull shot and knocks the ball over the wicketkeeper’s head where the ball runs away for four runs.
Pope’s fifty comes up in 62 balls with 10 fours.
England 112-4 (24), Pope 49, Stokes 4, Rabada 0-54 (7)
Kagiso Rabada takes the ball from the other end and almost beats Ollie Pope for pace. Pope gets an inside edge onto his pads and the ball squirts through the slips for a single.
Ben Stokes is the new man for England. The captain needs to settle and dig in for a long innings here as England need the runs. He rocks back and cuts Rabada away for four runs off the last ball of the over.
Wicket! Brook 12 (20) c. Rabada b. Jansen, England 107-4 (22.5)
Harry Brook is gone! Marco Jansen drags the ball down short and Brook looks to hook him away to the legside but has to drag the ball from wide of the off stump.
He doesn’t catch it well and loops the ball straight down to deep fine leg where Kagiso Rabada catches it and gives Jansen his fourth wicket of the innings.
England 107-3 (22.3), Pope 48, Brook 12, Jansen 3-28 (9.3)
Jansen has start around the wicket, angling the ball into Brook and looking to nip it away from the right-handers. Harry Brook sees out the first three days quite comfortably as Jansen targets an off-stump line.
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