So the dust has settled and the test series between South Africa and England has concluded. In one of my earlier blogs, I wrote about how the teams compared going into the series and at that stage I could not separate the sides. And so its proved! The series ending one all may not have been a fair reflection for some but I feel both teams showed qualities deserving of not losing the series. South Africa showed a lot of dominance while England never gave up and fought back from almost impossible situations. That to me meant one all is a fair reflection.What I'll do now though, is do a review of my comparison of the teams and see how things actually turned out.
Openers: Both sides struggled a bit with building a good opening partnership but in the end it was England who won this duel as South Africa could not build an opening stand of higher than 36 in the entire series. Ashwell Prince was in poor form throughout so that mainly contributed to Engalnd doing better, however Andrew Strauss should be disappointed with a series average of under 25. Its some how ironic that Graeme Smith ended up the leading run scorer though despite the poor opening stands SA had.
No. 3: Hashim Amla vs Jonathan Trott. Trott promoted to number three for this series ended on the losing end of this battle. Amla was in sparkling form however, with scores of 100, 95 and 75 showing the consistent performer that he has become. Trott only managed one 50 in the series and serious thought should go into whether number three is the best spot for him.
No. 4: Jacques Kallis vs Kevin Pietersen. This duel promised to be the best of the series but it was easily won by Kallis in the end. Ending up as the 2nd leading run scorer in the series, Kallis showed his class and KP could just not match him. Only one innings of note, and its been a nightmare tour for the SA born superstar. Form is temporary though and so I'm sure his class too will shine through in the series to come for England.
No. 5: AB De Villiers vs Paul Collingwood. Despite both players getting three fifties in the series its Collingwood who wins this one. A match saving innings in Cape Town, a match winning innings in Durban and a free scoring innings in Jo'burg, the Durham man has showed why he is the respected cricketer he is, with sheer quality and ability to adapt to the different situations.
No. 6: JP Duminy vs Ian Bell: Despie Duminy starting the series with a fifty, and Bell having a poor first test, Bell won this duel with his superb century in Durban and a match saving innings in Cape Town, which I saw live. Bell seemed to thrive under pressure while Duminy showed weakness when faced with pressure. His off spin may help him keep his place in the team though as he took one or two key wickets through the series.
No.7: Mark Boucher vs Matt Prior. To my surprise this duel ended up not the way I expected. Boucher winning the man of the series and being key behind the stumps shows that his experience should not be overlooked. Prior however just failed when in tough situations with the bat. Boucher answered his critics, me included and full credit to him.
No. 8: Morne Morkel vs Stuart Broad. To me this ended up all square. Both helped their team win a test with fantastic spells in Jo'burg and Durban respectively, while they showed their worth to the respective teams. Both have had the reputations enhanced with this series.
No.9: Paul Harris vs Graeme Swann. This contest is where SA lost the chance of winning the series. Harris failed to to get enough wickets while Swann ended up with a joint man of the series award. Contributing with both the bat and ball, Swann has made the test spot his own while it was no surprise to see that SA won a test when Harris was not in the side.
No.10: Dale Steyn vs James Anderson. This battle also ended up all square for me. Anderson took one wicket more but Styen played one game less and both showed reasons why they are regarded the best bowlers for their respective countries.
No.11: Makhaya Ntini vs Graham Onions. It was somehow surprising to see Onions not selected for the last test match but his contribution to this series will be remebered for many years to come. Twice helping England draw the the test match, he also took 8 wickets, although he deserved more wickets than he actually got. Ntini on the other hand was poor, and one wonders whether he will ever play another test again.
All in all, its been a thrilling series. A series which shows what makes test cricket so special. Ups and downs, a win a piece for each team with two fantastic drawn tests which went down to the last ball. Special praise to Graeme Smith, Paul Collingwood, Mark Boucher, Graeme Swann, Morne Morkel, Ian Bell and Dale Steyn for their parts in a series that could have been so different had they not contributed be it with bat or ball while I feel a star of test cricket could have been born in Wayne Parnell. Lastly, well done to SA for retaining the Basil D'Oliveira trophy!
Here are some more pics of the Newlands test match:
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