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 waste no time to seal South Africa series win
England needed just 25 minutes on the final morning to wrap up a 2-1 Test series victory over South Africa.
Play on the penultimate evening of the truncated third Test was contentiously halted due to bad light at the Kia Oval with England just 33 short of overhauling a 130-target and with all 10 wickets in hand.
Surrey threw open their doors free of charge for the deferred denouement and there was no surprise twist as England claimed a nine-wicket win for their sixth Test success in seven matches this summer.
England waste no time to seal South Africa series win
England win by nine wickets: England took just 25 minutes to seal a sixth Test success in seven matches this summer
Reaction from Kagiso Rabada
South Africa Player of the Series Kagiso Rabada said: “It seemed like every game was decided from the toss. We won it at Lord’s and things went our way, but looking in hindsight we will take a lot of learnings out of this series.
“We are a young team, including myself, but there is a lot for us to take from this. We will look to get better moving forward, and get some more wins.
“I injured myself in the second T20 at Cardiff, and I wasn’t sure if i was going to make it to this Test series. But I am very glad I did, and I am very grateful.to the medical staff for helping me.
“It’s very exciting to see the talent we have in our fast bowling department but overall as a team, there is so much talent and we’ve just got to get used to playing together as a team, and then the world is our oyster.”
Reaction from Ollie Robinson
As part of his Player of the Match interview England’s Ollie Robinson said: “It’s been a really enjoyable comeback for me and the team. The experience over the last few weeks have been really enjoyable and it’s great to be with the lads again.
“Its nice to get where I am but don’t feel like I am the finished article. There’s lot of work to do, there’s a tough winter ahead so I will keep pushing on.
“The environment is a great place to thrive, it is really enjoyable. You can see that with how we are playing with a smile on our faces and having a great time out there.
“I think with Stokesy you always get complete honesty which at times is what I needed. Luckily it worked off the back of that.
“It was definitely a helpful surface, it always had a bit of carry. Tall bowlers tend to do well here so it was nice for me to do well this week.”
The trophy presentation
Kagiso Rabada is South Africa’s Player of the Series having picked up 14 wickets across the three test matches and remained a threat every time he came on to bowl.
The trophy presentation
Jonny Bairstow is awarded the England test match Player of the Summer award after scoring 681 runs including four hundreds and a couple of match winning knocks. His broken leg means he isn’t here to collect the award but it’s a fitting tribute to the Yorkshireman who was a crucial part of England’s winning formual.
More specific to this game, Ollie Robinson is awarded the Player of the Match award thanks to his five-wicket haul in the first innings.
England win the three-match series 2-1
What a summer for England
England win the game by nine wickets and claim the series 2-1.
England win the three-match series 2-1
England win their sixth (out of seven) Test match of the summer - the first time that has happened since 2004.
It is a truly remarkable turnaround after an atrocious winter in Australia and the West Indies.
They have beaten the World Test champions (New Zealand), they’ve beaten India and now they’ve beaten the current leader in the World Test Championship (South Africa).
England win the three-match series 2-1
It was a regulation morning for England, 33 runs to win knocked off inside half an hour in just 5.3 overs. Zak Crawley’s confidence will be boosted by an unbeaten knock of 69 and he was ably supported by Alex Lees 39 and Ollie Pope 11*.
Kagiso Rabada took South Africa’s only wicket of the innings with figures of 1-57.
England win the match by nine wickets to end the test match summer.
England 130-1 (22.3), Pope 11, Crawley 69, Jansen 0-40 (7.3)
England win! Ollie Pope gets off strike and Zak Crawley cuts Jansen away through the offside to collect four and knock off the winning runs.
He finishes unbeaten with 69 and Pope is 11 not out.
England win the three-match series 2-1.
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