There was heartbreak for Proteas fans on day four of the final Test against England as they watched Rassie van der Dussen lose his wicket on 98 and the series slip away, writes Khalid Mohidin from the Wanderers.
The Proteas needed something magical. With 466 the target, the Proteas took a steady approach. It failed, as Dean Elgar (24) and Pieter Malan (22) failed to stamp their authority upfront.
It was Van der Dussen and Du Plessis who steadied the ship. They seemed to be up for the fight and scored 92 before Du Plessis unluckily bottom edged a low delivery into his stumps.
Van der Dussen looked set for a special knock. He played controlled shots particularly against Joe Root, as he climbed to 98 off 138 balls. What followed was heartbreaking. Facing Mark Wood, he loosely drove the ball to short extra cover.
The sadness in his walk was evident, and the outcome must have sunk South African fans’ hearts.
More wickets fell shortly after. The most notable one was the one of Vernon Philander, as he walked off the Wanderers turf for the last time to a standing ovation from the Proteas fans and Barmy Army. He was met by the Proteas dressing room who all shook his hand as he came out of the tunnel.
De Kock then lost his wicket on 39 trying to play expansively as the Proteas were reduced to 267/8.
The mix up between Beuran Hendricks and Anrich Nortje summed up the messy batting display as the Proteas stared down an embarrassing defeat.
The Proteas lost by 191 runs and the series 3-1.
Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
