Proteas start new era for SA cricket with victory over England in Centurion
The new era of South African cricket started on a positive note on Sunday when Faf du Plessis and his Proteas beat England with 107 runs in Centurion in the first test of the current series after only four days of action.
Faf du Plessis and his Proteas team re-established their winning culture and picked up their first 30 points in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) when they beat England by 107 runs with a day and a session to spare in the opening match of the four-match series at SuperSport Park, Centurion, on Sunday.
Having not picked up a single point in their opening WTC series in India it was important that they bounced back quickly, and they have the chance to pick up a possible 90 further points in the three remaining matches.
It was an important win for the Proteas as they held their nerve after England got into a strong position at the close of day three with nine wickets still in hand and the target batted down to little more than 250.
Fast bowler Anrich Nortje’s performance in only his third Test after two very difficult matches in India was significant. Not only did he take five wickets in the match but his innings of 40 and his partnership of 91 with Rassie van der Dussen was critical to the margin of victory as was the first innings lead of 103.
Sunday’s final chapter of the Test match was built around a disciplined bowling performance that kept England under pressure all day and restricted them to only two partnerships of note – 47 between Rory Burns and Joe Denly and 46 between Joe Root and Ben Stokes – and not any of the big ones that England needed to get over the line.
Burns (84 off 154 balls) finished England’s top scorer with Root’s 48 (101 balls) the next best.
Once again, England suffered a major collapse in the middle and lower order with the last seven wickets falling for 64 runs after the seven for 39 in the first innings.
Kagiso Rabada had the best bowling return of 4/103 to give him seven in the match in what was a good all-round performance by the bowling unit.
Quinton de Kock was named Man of the Match for his 129 runs and eight catches in the match.
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