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 78-2 (14), Pope 34, Root 21, Nortje 0-4 (1)
Anrich Nortje comes on to replace Marco Jansen. He’s been one of South Africa’s better bowlers in this series and his is quick. He can regularly get the ball over 90mph which is always tough to deal with.
Ollie Pope is well set at the crease though. He steps across and laces a drive through cover for four. The deficit is down to 40 now.
England 74-2 (13), Pope 30, Root 21, Mulder 0-6 (1)
Kagiso Rabada is taken off by Dean Elgar and all-rounder Wiaan Mulder is brought on to replace him. Joe Root takes a couple of steps down the wicket and hooks Mulder into the legside for two runs.
Both Pope and Root are looking busy at the crease and both are scoring quickly. Right on cue Root whips the ball off his pads and collects his third boundary of the day.
England are going at over 5.50 runs an over, in a test match.
England 68-2 (12), Pope 30, Root 15, Jansen 2-19 (6)
Batting is all about partnerships but so is bowling. Marco Jansen has started brilliantly nipping out both of England’s openers but at the other end Kagiso Rabada is leaking runs and letting up the pressure on England.
Jansen over-pitches outside the off-stump and Root drives him through the gap between point and cover for four runs before taking a single off the next ball.
England are flying here.
England 63-2 (11), Pope 30, Root 10, Rabada 0-49 (6)
That’s not going to help Kagiso Rabada’s mood. He finds the thick edge of Ollie Pope’s bat but the ball flies over the slips and goes away for four!
Rabada sends down another no-ball and has to bowl the last ball of the over again. He targets Pope’s stumps but the batter is full of confidence and drives Rabada through mid-on for four more!
England 54-2 (10.3), Pope 22, Root 5, Rabada 0-40 (5.3)
Root is quickly onto a pull shot as Rabada drags another delivery short and he picks up his first boundary. Rabada’s next ball is a no-ball that Root dabs through backward point for two more.
An overcorrection from Rabada sees him go too full and straight and Root helps himself to three with a flick through midwicket. He’s up to 10 from just seven balls.
England have also brought up their fifty.
England 44-2 (10), Pope 22, Root 1, Jansen 2-14 (5)
Joe Root is welcomed to the crease to cries of ‘Roooot!’ from the England supporters and gets off the mark with a single to square leg.
After 10 overs England trail by 74 runs.
Wicket! Crawley 5 (34) LBW b. Jansen, England 43-2 (9.1)
That is stone dead. Marco Jansen pushes the ball full and gets it to swing back into the legs of Zak Crawley who tries to drive it down the ground.
The swing and pace is too much for the opener and the ball thuds into his pads. South Africa appeal and the umpire raises the finger.
Crawley decides to review but ball-tracking comes up with three reds to send the opener back to the pavilion.
England 43-1 (9), Pope 22, Crawley 5, Rabada 0-30 (5)
South Africa have four slips for Pope when he’s facing Rabada and the batter gets lucky when an outside edge flies wide of the fourth man allowing Pope to pick up two.
He’s quick onto the pull shot when Rabada digs the next ball in and swivels the ball over to the square leg boundary for four more runs.
Rabada oversteps for a no-ball before he finishes his fifth.
England 35-1 (8), Pope 16, Crawley 5, Jansen 1-13 (4)
Pope continues his attacking mindset and guides Jansen down to fine leg with a flick off a his pads for four runs! He then knocks the ball down the ground and collects three bringing Crawley back on strike.
Pope is making batting look simple but Crawley is in a battle. He attempts to latch onto a wide one from the left-arm seamer but misses out as the ball sneaks past his inside edge.
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