England defeats South Africa in the 3rd Test by an innings and 53 runs, after enforcing the follow-on. The visitors are now leading the 4-match Test series by 2-1. Ollie Pope was named “Player of the Match” for his unbeaten knock in England’s solitary innings.
England, who won the toss and elected to bat, had to bat only once in the entire match. Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley provided a solid start to their team with the bat.
Down the road, all-rounder Ben Stokes and batsman Ollie Pope shared a 203 runs partnership to further strengthen England’s position in the game. Ben Stokes celebrated his 9th hundred as he scored 120 for 214 balls. Ollie Pope remained undefeated as he smacked 135 runs on 226 deliveries for his maiden Test hundred.
ALSO READ: Ollie Pope, Dom Bess put England in charge on Day 3
England declared their innings on 499/9. Keshav Maharaj claimed 5 wickets for 180 runs from his 58 overs.
South Africa struggled in their first innings as they lost 5 wickets for 109 runs. Anrich Nortje took a solid stand and faced 136 deliveries for 18 runs. Wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock remained the top-scorer from the hosting side after he scored 63 runs from 139 balls.
South Africa got all out on 209 runs, owing to Dom Bess’ maiden five-wicket haul. Stuart Broad took 3 wickets. The hosts were still 290 runs behind and England decided to enforce the follow-on.
Not much was changed in the 2nd innings of South Africa. Captain Faf du Plessis could only contribute 36 from 123 balls, Quinton de Kock added 3 from 26.
However, specialist bowler Keshav Maharaj had an excellent innings with the bat. Maharaj scored 71 runs from 106 balls before getting run out. It was his highest individual score and his 2nd half-century. Keshav Maharaj also smacked 28 runs in Joe Root’s over, leveling the most runs conceded in any over of a Test match, who had been causing real trouble for the other South African batsmen.
South Africa’s batting order crumbled once again, but this time, instead of Dom Bess, it was the skipper Joe Root doing the damage. Joe Root secured 4 wickets for 87 runs in his 29 overs, while Mark Wood claimed 3 for 32.
South Africa finished on 237 runs, losing the match by an innings and 53 runs.
The 4th and final Test match of the series will be played at The Wanderers, Johannesburg, starting from January 24.
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