England wrap up Durban victory

Press Association,Durban,David Clough
Wednesday 30 December 2009 10:20 GMT
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Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad shared nine wickets as England duly wrapped up an innings victory over South Africa before lunch on the final morning of the second Test.

Andrew Strauss' tourists, so close to defeat themselves in the first Test at Centurion, will therefore leave Kingsmead for Cape Town on New Year's Eve with a 1-0 lead in the bag in the four-match series.

Today's success is their first by an innings against South Africa since 1964 - a result also, coincidentally, achieved on this same ground.

This time, they had Ian Bell and Alastair Cook's centuries to thank before Swann (five for 54) and Broad (four for 43) converted the opportunity expertly in an irresistible second-innings bowling partnership which saw the hosts dismissed for 133 as England triumphed by an innings and 98 runs.

Swann's reward was a second five-wicket haul in successive Tests, in an astounding year of personal success for the off-spinner.

Another cloudy day dawned with a crumb of good news for the hosts, who discovered their adjusted first-innings deficit of 231 was one run fewer than they thought after the umpires belatedly realised they had awarded Bell five runs yesterday for what should have been just four overthrows.

That minor alteration did not preface any turning of the tide against England, however.

Swann repeated his party trick of striking in his first over after a break, taking the wicket of Morne Morkel.

Unsurprisingly given the bowling duties along with Broad after they had accounted for yesterday's six wickets between them, Swann almost had Morkel with his fourth ball of the morning.

He turned it to take the outside edge, only to see the ball snake between wicketkeeper and first slip for four.

More success was delayed only momentarily, though, with Morkel back in defence to the next delivery and missing the arm ball to go lbw.

Swann, who has taken 54 wickets in 2009, was up to 14 in this series by the end of the match in a country where finger spinners have traditionally played bit-part roles.

He almost had another too when Mark Boucher, on 25, nudged a single just past Alastair Cook's outstretched right hand at short-leg off the face of the bat.

It was Broad instead who was to see off Boucher, gloving behind down the leg-side for an athletic catch by Matt Prior and then seeing Amiesh Saheba's initial not-out response overturned by England on DRS.

Had England reviewed Swann's lbw appeal against Dale Steyn on nought in his next over, they would already have been just one wicket away - because replays showed the ball hitting leg-stump within the 'zone of certainty'.

South Africa's scrapes kept coming, Paul Harris escaping a half-chance on 31 off Swann when Jonathan Trott just failed to hang on to what would have been an outstanding left-handed diving catch low down at short midwicket.

Strauss had to turn to James Anderson for the ninth wicket. But Broad could not be kept out of the action, taking the simple catch at mid-on as Harris mis-timed an attempted clip to leg.

Even more appropriately, Swann inflicted the final blow to complete his five-for - Steyn back in his crease and missing a straight ball as the hosts fell one behind in the series.

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