The Proteas were completely dominated in every department during the 3rd Test against England and need to press reset as they head to the Wanderers, writes Khalid Mohidin from Port Elizabeth.
Where to start. I guess from the moment the Proteas lost the toss there was a sense of wariness amongst the side. England, who seemed fully recovered after a horrid stomach bug struck the side in the first Test at Centurion.
It seemed, at first, that England were struggling just like the Proteas to put runs on the board, but they quickly grew into their own as the series progressed. Ben Stokes, Dom Sibley and Ollie Pope the only batsmen in the series to score centuries.
They went from being bowled out by the Proteas for 181 & 268 in the first Test, to scoring 269 & 391/8din the second Test and 499/d in the third.
The Proteas consistently digressed throughout the series. They scored 284 & 272 in Centurion, 223 & 248 in Cape Town and 209 & in Port Elizabeth.
The Port Elizabeth Test, in particular, was a horror show. “The fight” that was repeated by Faf du Plessis and Mark Boucher was mainly shown by the Proteas bowlers with the bat in hand.
The Proteas’ top six batsmen scored a combined 172 in the first innings and 83 in the second innings.
Quinton de Kock and Keshav Maharaj were the only batsmen to hit half-centuries for the Proteas.
Maharaj (71) and Dane Paterson (39) strung together a 99-run partnership, the highest in the match by South Africa, which is a representation of how under par the Proteas’ batting was in the contest.
Mark Boucher accepted that the match was over when he addressed the media on day four, while we all waited for the inevitable on day five.
England took just over an hour and a half to clean up the Proteas to win by an innings and 53 runs.
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