England defeated South Africa in the first Test of their tour to the African nation by 241 runs in Durban. The Proteas were given a daunting target of 416 runs to chase, but they fell short by a huge margin and were not able to save the test as their batsmen fell like a pack of cards on the final day.
South Africa started the day at 136 for 4 with AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn on the crease. The ICC ODI Player of the Year lost his wicket in the first over of the day, which left his team in serious trouble. He was caught on the crease and was out leg before to Moeen Ali.
The off-spinner picked up three wickets in the innings, but it was Steven Finn delivery, who was the star of the innings as he took four wickets in the innings. Temba Bavuma was the next to depart with SA still stuck on the score on which they started the day.
Dale Steyn followed Bavuma to the pavilion after just three overs and was Finn’s fourth scalp of the innings. JP Duminy was stuck on the crease from one end but did not receive any kind of help from his teammates as wickets kept on falling at the other end. Kyle Abbott was caught leg before by Moeen Ali as the Proteas lost their eighth wicket with only 143 runs on the board.
Dane Piedt tried to stay strong and defended resolutely for a while before he fell to Chris Woakes. Despite his resistance, Piedt was not able to score a single run in the 27 deliveries he faced before losing his wicket.
Morne Morkel was the last one to depart, as Stuart Broad got him lbw as the Three Lions took a 1-0 lead in the Test series after the Proteas crumbled for a paltry 174 runs.
Earlier, riding high on Nick Compton’s 85 and James Taylor 70, England posted a first inning score of 303 runs. In reply, the South Africans were able to amass just 214 runs, which could have been much less had Dean Elgar not scored a century in the innings.
In their second inning, the visitors scored 326 runs, with Joe Root scoring 73 and Jonny Bairstow 79, which left SA with a total of 416 runs to chase.
Elgar and van Zyl gave a stable start to SA’s second innings but the following batsmen were not able to capitalise on the start as they succumbed to a 241-run loss.
Despite the loss of James Anderson, the performance of Finn and Ali ensured that England didn’t feel the full impact of his loss.
Brief Scores: England 303 & 326 defeated South Africa 214 & 174 by 241 runs
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