England completed a dominant win against the Proteas at Newlands, sealing a 189-run win to level the series at 1-1, writes Khalid Mohidin.
The second Test between South Africa and Newlands started off brightly for the Proteas. They bowled England out for 269 which left fans feeling vibrant and positive that their side could go 2-0 up in the series.
But as we have discovered on so many occasions, Test cricket is an unpredictably complex game.
The wicket was described as conducive to batting, but the Proteas seemed to not take their opportunity, to prove that their batting woes are well and truly behind them. They were skittled for 223, giving England the perfect platform to build a comprehensive lead.
They scored 391, setting the Proteas a total that would require a record-breaking chase of 438.
It was the perfect setting for Pieter Malan as he survived until stumps on Day 4, having reached his half-century in front of his home crowd.
Unfortunately, he had lost his top-order partners by the close of play.
Day 5 he pushed on but lost another two partners as the Proteas’ hope for victory slipped further away.
Malan’s wicket on 84 saw the Proteas’ chances truly slip away. But a revival half-century from Quinton de Kock gave the Proteas a little more hope before he was caught at short midwicket.
It was clear what the Proteas’ aim was. Fight out for the draw, but the task became more dense as wickets continued to fall.
The Proteas had one wicket in hand with 11 overs left in the match. They survived with 8.2 overs left but Ben Stokes took the final wicket to level the series at 1-1.
