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:
Lunch: South Africa 69-6 (24)
England were exceptional in the first session with James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson ripping through the South African top order.
Robinson in particular was brilliant combining movement off the pitch with a tight line and length to take four wickets for 21 runs.
Khaya Zondo (21*) and Marco Jansen (17*) offered some resistance and strung together a partnership of 33 to take the Proteas into lunch 69-6.
South Africa 69-6 (24), Zondo 21, Jansen 17, Anderson 1-16 (8)
Jimmy Anderson bowls the last over before lunch. He hangs the ball outside the off-stump and tries to tempt Khaya Zondo into a drive.
It’s a maiden to end the session.
South Africa 69-6 (23), Zondo 21, Jansen 17, Leach 0-10 (2)
Stokes gives Leach a second over but takes out one of the close fielders around the bat to give his spinner more cover in the outfield.
Jansen has an eye on lunch and strides forward to easily defend and he blocks out the over without trouble. It’s a maiden for Leach.
South Africa 69-6 (22), Zondo 21, Jansen 17, Anderson 1-16 (7)
This partnership is up to 33 now as Marco Jansen and Khaya Zondo continue South Africa’s rebuild. They’ve batted well in tough conditions but seem to be growing in confidence.
The next job is to get to lunch without losing another wicket.
South Africa 66-6 (21), Zondo 21, Jansen 14, Leach 0-10 (1)
With just under 15 minutes to go before lunch Ben Stokes brings on Jack Leach for his first bowl of the match.
Zondo has a look at the first couple of deliveries, decides that the ball isn’t spinning a great deal then dances down the pitch and smokes Leach back over his head for six!
He follows it up with a cut through point for four and Leach finds himself under pressure with 10 runs coming from the over.
South Africa 56-6 (20), Zondo 11, Jansen 14, Anderson 1-13 (6)
Name a trickier time to bat.
The floodlights are on, the clouds are overhead, the ball is swinging and nipping off the pitch with James Anderson and Stuart Broad bowling in tandem.
Zondo looks to push one through the leg-side and gets an outside edge on the ball which rolls away to the gap at cover for a single.
South Africa 55-6 (19), Zondo 10, Jansen 14, Broad 1-20 (6)
Zondo has down well to hang around this morning and clips Broad away for a single to reach double figures. He’s batting in difficult conditions and looked nervous when he first arrived at the crease.
So far so good for the South African number five.
South Africa 54-6 (18), Zondo 9, Jansen 14, Anderson 1-12 (5)
Anderson returns looking for some late swing trying to square up Marco Jansen. He finds the edge twice in the over but the ball doesn’t reach the fielder on either occasion.
England go up in unison as Anderson raps Jansen on the pads and they appeal for an LBW. The umpire gives it not out and Ben Stokes decides against reviewing it this time.
It’s a good call as ball-tracking shows it to be missing leg-stump. Anderson completes his maiden over.
South Africa 54-6 (17), Zondo 9, Jansen 14, Broad 1-19 (5)
Broad has got the ball moving now. His last two overs especially have been probing and difficult to negotiate. There’s a couple of play and misses from Zondo but he collects a couple from Broad’s over.
James Anderson is going to replace Ollie Robinson at the pavilion end.
South Africa 52-6 (16), Zondo 7, Jansen 14, Robinson 4-21 (8)
Fifty up for South Africa! Robinson sends down a straight, full delivery that Jansen strokes wonderfully down the ground for four runs!
Jansen is looking in good touch. Could he counter-attack for the Proteas?
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