by John Wisden
Armed with the second new ball on the first evening, England stayed in touch by striking twice: Broad’s first Test wicket in 401 deliveries and nightwatchman Steyn. Pietersen’s first contribution was suitably unpredictable as he removed Rudolph with his second ball shortly before lunch on day two, a sharp off-break that immediately called into question the omission of Swann. Petersen, twice reprieved by Hawk-Eye after being given out leg-before on 119 and 124, finally fell for a Test-best 182 after Rod Tucker contrived to miss an edge behind and England asked for a review.
Eventually facing a total of 419 – around 100 more than they might have hoped after South Africa were put in – England survived unscathed until stumps, then slipped to 173 for four moments before tea on the third day. Pietersen had 43 but, when Morkel went round the wicket in the fourth over after the interval, it was as if he had woken the Kraken. Missed on 52 by Amla at short leg, Pietersen pulled the next two balls to the midwicket fence, then drove and carved Steyn for fours. Kallis was pulled for four more, then straight-driven for another. Next over, Pietersen ticked off 7,000 Test runs; six overs after that, he was celebrating his 21st century, pointedly waving his bat in the direction of his wife, Jessica, and only cursorily acknowledging those of his team-mates who had bothered to appear on the dressing-room balcony. His second fifty came from just 52 balls.
He wasn’t finished yet. One murderous lofted straight-drive prompted the bowler, Steyn, to take evasive action, à la Lillee to Botham during the other immortal Headingley innings of 149. Soon after, Pietersen dumped him back over his head for six. This was unmissable: for a while, even the West Stand stopped building beer snakes.
Watching from the other end, defending stoutly, was James Taylor, the thimble-sized 22-year-old making his Test debut in place of Ravi Bopara, who had pulled out for personal reasons. In a game-turning stand of 147, Taylor added a compact 34. It was the innings of a high-class stooge, quietly doing his bit while handing the punchlines to Pietersen. The discrepancy in the batsmen’s heights, with Pietersen nearly a foot taller, merely emphasised the effect.
Pietersen completed a hundred runs in an elongated final session, but fell second ball on the fourth morning to the persevering Morkel, before Prior helped carve out a six-run lead. With more than five sessions to go, anything seemed possible, only for thunder, lightning and rain to limit South Africa’s second innings before stumps to 17 overs.
A draw looked inevitable, even when Pietersen again removed Rudolph – opening because Petersen had a hamstring strain – with his second ball, this time courtesy of a reviewed lbw. After lunch, Pietersen added Smith and Amla, who smacked a full toss to extra cover, at which point Broad took up the baton. Perhaps because he had spent the previous evening watching a DVD of England’s miracle win over Sri Lanka at Cardiff in 2011, when the tourists lost eight wickets in a session, and the Test, he was in the mood for a twist: summoning up an extra yard of pace, Broad embarked on a spell of five wickets in 37 balls. Anderson added Steyn and, when Smith made a second successive surprise declaration, England were set 253 in 39 overs: improbable, but maybe not by the standards of an extraordinary week.
Promoted to open, Pietersen managed three fours in seven balls before toe-ending to mid-on, and Strauss – after following him to 7,000 Test runs – hit a full toss back to Duminy. Cook departed for a resourceful 46, and it wasn’t until Prior, mysteriously coming in after Strauss and Trott, was run out that England gave up hope of a win. Trott and Bell blocked for an hour before hands were shaken shortly after 7.30pm. Had the weather allowed just one more session, we might have had a thriller. In the event, with Pietersen about to face the press, the fun and games had barely begun.
Man of the Match: K. P. Pietersen. Attendance: 54,398.
Anderson 33.2–10–61–2; Broad 35–10–96–3; Finn 32–3–118–2; Bresnan 27–4–98–1; Trott 5–1–9–0; Pietersen 7–0–26–1. Second innings—Anderson 19–7–40–1; Broad 16.4–2–69–5; Finn 14–2–55–0; Bresnan 9–2–40–0; Pietersen 9–1–52–3.
Morkel 32–9–96–2; Philander 30–10–72–2; Steyn 28–8–102–2; Kallis 12–3–34–1; Imran Tahir 23.4–0–92–3; Duminy 1–0–5–0. Second innings—Morkel 10–4–33–0; Philander 6–1–26–1; Steyn 7–1–26–1; Imran Tahir 4–0–20–0; Duminy 2–0–10–1; Kallis 4–2–7–0.
Umpires: S. J. Davis and R. J. Tucker. Third umpire: Asad Rauf.
ENGLAND v SOUTH AFRICA
Third Investec Test
STEVEN LYNCH
At Lord’s, August 16–20. South Africa won by 51 runs. Toss: South Africa.
When a brainless run-out reduced England to 45 for four on the last morning, still 300 adrift, embarrassment loomed – and with it the tame surrender of the No. 1 ranking in Test cricket. They did lose in the end, but only after a thrilling fightback which briefly persuaded an enthralled, engaged crowd that a miracle was possible.
Jonny Bairstow, playing because Kevin Pietersen had been dropped for textual impropriety, lit the blue touchpaper with a 41-ball fifty, Prior and Broad carried on the fight, and Swann swung freely. After tea, 61 runs cascaded from 41 deliveries, but just as Smith – captaining in a Test for a record 94th time – was beginning to look nervous, Swann was narrowly run out, after lashing five fours and two sixes. And, despite a manic episode when the swashbuckling Prior was caught in the covers, then reprieved just before reaching the Pavilion because replays showed Morkel had overstepped, the frolics were about to end. Shortly afterwards, Prior really was out, and Finn went first ball, both victims of the bouncy Philander, who thus added a five-for to two vital batting contributions.
It had been a spirited retort by England, but victory was always tantalisingly out of reach, mainly because of the sort of self-inflicted wounds – especially run-outs and dropped catches – which typified their performances. The result meant a first home series defeat since the loss to South Africa in 2008, and their sixth in 11 Test matches anywhere since reaching No. 1 themselves a year previously.
The last day provided a fitting conclusion to an absorbing match, conducted on a blameless pitch which, 17 days previously, had been the domain of Olympic archers. Around a third of the outfield had been returfed, after temporary stands were removed, with grass grown near Scunthorpe – an Olympian effort of their own from the groundstaff. Away from Lord’s, though, the build-up was dominated by the omission of Pietersen: many wondered how the 149 runs he had scored in the first innings at Headingley could be adequately replaced. Bairstow provided the answer, duly scoring 149 runs in the match, and batting with character and chutzpah.
The imbroglio clearly affected the tight-lipped England camp, however. Strauss, playing in his 100th Test – and captaining for the 50th time – admitted as much afterwards. “It’s been a tough week,” he said, before reflecting on England’s poor run in 2012: “We’ve lost a lot more than we would have wanted to. Whether it was because of a change of mindset – from being the hunters to the ones that are hunted – I don’t know.” Nine days later, he announced his retirement.
Controversy was temporarily forgotten, though, as South Africa dipped to 54 for four after choosing to bat on an overcast first morning. Three of them went to Finn, who displayed a Glenn McGrath-like mastery of the Lord’s slope to defeat Amla, although the wickets of Petersen and Kallis were less classical, both involving leg-side gloves. Petersen’s bottom hand was probably still in contact with the bat handle when it was hit, but third umpire Rod Tucker’s decision to overrule his on-field colleague Kumar Dharmasena in the case of Kallis looked like a blooper: his bottom hand was indisputably off the handle when Finn’s rib-tickler cannoned into it.
South Africa overcame their indignation, regrouping through gritty contributions from Rudolph and Duminy. A maiden half-century from Philander took them past 300, before he became Prior’s sixth victim of the innings – and the second for Swann, restored to the side, complete with severe 1950s haircut, in place of Tim Bresnan. There were three wickets for Anderson
, but Broad – in his 50th Test – was a little below his usual pace: England might have wished they had opted instead for Graham Onions, who was released from the squad after the toss, drove up to Trent Bridge, and took nine for 67 for Durham).
Midway through the second day, England were also 54 for four, before a rescue act of their own. Bairstow had been labelled susceptible to the short ball during the West Indies series, but survived a thorough examination from Steyn and Morkel. Tall and slender, though wide-shouldered, as if he’d left the coat-hanger in place, Bairstow played his natural attacking game, adding 124 with Bell to calm English nerves. Bell was well caught at third slip ten overs before the close, but Bairstow survived, having mixed in the occasional fierce cut with his signature peachy on-drives. Next morning, though, he tried one too many after being tied down for 14 balls on 95, and was bowled by the impressive Morkel. England had been closing in on South Africa’s total; they seemed unlikely to get there when Anderson lobbed a catch to gully at 283. But, to wild applause, the last pair inched them level, then just past: as at Headingley, they led by six.
South Africa were quickly back in front, though initial progress was slow. Smith hit only two fours in his first 61 deliveries before cutting Swann to the rope, then was lbw next ball. Shortly afterwards came a match-changing moment: Amla flicked at a leg-side delivery from Broad, Prior covered the ground well but almost overshot the ball, which hit him on the base of the left palm and bounced away. Amla had two at the time and – though Broad was partly mollified when he trapped Petersen in front two deliveries later – he survived to score 119 more.
Batting with the sort of calm, wristy elegance patented by Ranji, Amla did not give another chance. A devout Muslim, he celebrated the festival of Eid with his 16th Test century, and it was a surprise when, halfway through the fourth day, he was again castled by a superb delivery from Finn which this time went up the hill a little. By then de Villiers had also been dropped – on eight, when he chipped a simple chance to Anderson at short midwicket off Swann – and the lead was past 250.
De Villiers advanced to 43 before Strauss clasped his 121st Test catch, to pass the England record previously shared by Colin Cowdrey and Ian Botham. Finn also removed Rudolph during a fine spell of three for 14 in 29 balls. The previous evening he had dismissed Kallis for 31, oddly his highest score in three Tests at Lord’s: it remained a statistical curiosity that, of Test cricket’s five leading run-scorers, only one (Rahul Dravid in 2011) had scored a century there. Kallis immediately reviewed his lbw decision, but had to walk off, disgusted by the DRS for the second time in the match (the snickometer, not part of the review process, later raised the possibility of a faint nick). Kallis cheered himself up by holding on to a couple of screamers in the slips – including one to end the match – and also took his 50th wicket against England to join an exclusive club.
Finn’s spell revived England, but hopes of a swift end – and a more realistic run-chase – were stymied by Philander, who made a forthright 35. Duminy, who survived for 141 minutes, was still there when Anderson, bowling well throughout for little reward, wrapped things up with two late wickets. The first of them was his 50th in Tests at Lord’s: only Ian Botham (69) and Fred Trueman (63) had more.
The target of 346 soon looked far distant when Cook was struck in front, then Strauss – possibly betraying the effects of an enervating week – let one go which was destined to flatten middle stump. The overnight 16 for two got worse when Bell was caught, after a juggle, at first slip, and most of the ground groaned when Trott pushed towards wide long-on, but declined a perfectly feasible fourth run: Taylor, in only his second Test, was stranded – “well stuffed by Trott”, lamented the watching Michael Vaughan.
There seemed no way back after that – and indeed there wasn’t, especially against a side as strong as South Africa, worthy claimants of the ICC Test mace. But England showed enough fight during a classic match, conducted almost throughout in sizzling temperatures, to show why they had been the previous holders.
Man of the Match: V. D. Philander. Attendance: 123,555.
Men of the Series: England – M. J. Prior; South Africa – H. M. Amla.
Anderson 29–5–76–3; Broad 24–4–69–1; Finn 18–2–75–4; Swann 24.2–6–63–2; Trott 6–1–14–0. Second innings—Anderson 25.2–4–73–2; Broad 21–2–85–2; Swann 47–14–94–2; Finn 27–5–74–4; Trott 4–0–11–0.
Morkel 28.3–6–80–4; Philander 24–9–48–2; Steyn 29–4–94–4; Kallis 12–3–29–0; Imran Tahir 14–3–54–0. Second innings—Morkel 17–3–58–0; Philander 14.5–4–30–5; Steyn 16–4–61–1; Kallis 11–2–50–1; Imran Tahir 24–3–88–1.
Umpires: H. D. P. K. Dharmasena and S. J. A. Taufel. Third umpire: R. J. Tucker.
Series referee: J. J. Crowe.
INDIA v ENGLAND, 2012-13
REVIEW BY GEORGE DOBELL
Test matches (4): India 1, England 2
One-day internationals (5): India 3, England 2
Twenty20 internationals (2): India 1, England 1
England left India celebrating a victory for the history books. And yet, in the aftermath of their nine-wicket defeat in the First Test at Ahmedabad, it had been hard to avoid a sense of gloomy inevitability. Ranged against them, apparently, were all their old failings – and some recent ones too: scars from the 3–0 defeat in the UAE by Pakistan and their slow bowlers were still raw. They had not won a series in Asia, Bangladesh excepted, for 12 years; and they had not won in India since 1984-85, when David Gower’s side had become the first – and, until now, only – visiting team to beat them in a Test series after falling behind.
There were doubts, too, about the spirit within the squad. Kevin Pietersen had only just returned on a short-term central contract, having been omitted from the final Test of the home series against South Africa and the World Twenty20 squad following revelations about his relationship with his team-mates. And despite Pietersen’s return, itself a feather in the cap for the new captain, Alastair Cook, there remained selection issues. With the retirement of Andrew Strauss, England had drafted in as opener Nick Compton, an uncapped 29-year-old accustomed to the No. 3 role in county cricket. The No. 6 slot remained a problem, while an injury in the opening warm-up game to Steven Finn, now a first-choice bowler, especially in these conditions, threatened to disrupt their plans from the start.
Neither could there be any doubting India’s determination to avenge their humiliating 4–0 defeat in England in 2011. Talk of payback featured heavily, with the Indian players making it clear England would find life significantly harder in alien conditions. During their three warm-up matches, the tourists were denied exposure to quality opposition. In particular, they faced very little slow bowling, and none of it high-class, before attracting an avalanche of spin in the Tests.
When Andy Flower, England’s head coach, acknowledged after Ahmedabad that he had erred in omitting Monty Panesar, and asked for judgment on his team to be suspended until the end of the series, it seemed he was talking more in hope than expectation. Not for the first time, however, Flower was vindicated: by emulating Gower’s side and turning deficit into victory, England pulled off one of their least expected series wins. For Flower’s opposite number, Duncan Fletcher – who during his time in charge of England had never won a series against India – it was a particularly unpalatable pill.
In the event, India’s tactics backfired, as Cook guardedly admitted he hoped they might. While England’s top order were warming up almost exclusively against an assortment of seamers and part-time slow bowlers, they were also spending confidence-boosting time at the crease. India’s captain M. S. Dhoni kept insisting, to the point of obsession, on turning tracks, designed to capitalise on the two teams’ perceived strengths and weaknesses. But it became clear that – once Panesar had been picked – it was England who had the slow bowlers better equipped to exploit the conditions. And while India persisted with the theory that England’s batsmen could not play spin, they
went into games with poorly balanced attacks, including one seamer and three spinners at Mumbai, then – in a dreadful miscalculation – one and four at Nagpur.
At both Mumbai and Kolkata, Tests were played on recently used pitches, although Dhoni’s attempts to put pressure on groundsmen to comply with his demands met with mixed results. Certainly any implied threats from the BCCI about the future of Kolkata’s curator fell on deaf ears: Prabir Mukherjee, a fearless octogenarian, was long past the stage where such intimidation offered any concern, and provided a fine Test pitch. Only the deathly slow surface at Nagpur proved unsuitable for a format fighting for space in a crowded marketplace.
As Dhoni’s stock fell, despite his face-saving – though not series-salvaging – innings of 99 at Nagpur, Cook’s reputation rocketed. Even amid the rubble of England’s rout at Ahmedabad, he had sown the seeds of their resurgence with a second-innings century that proved to his colleagues it was possible to prosper against India’s spinners. In typically undemonstrative fashion, he went on to score centuries in each of the first three Tests, making him the first man to register hundreds in his first five in charge (he had scored one in each of the two Tests in Bangladesh in 2009-10, when he stood in as captain for the rested Strauss). Cook’s air of calm, whether in adversity or triumph, his pragmatic approach to coaxing the best out of the eclectic mix of characters under him, and his desire to succeed meant the post-Strauss transition took place more smoothly than anyone could have dreamed.
Where once he had been an accumulator, satisfied with cutting, pulling and nudging, Cook now showed he had developed a range of strokes to prosper in any conditions. He swept judiciously, a rarity among Englishmen, used his feet precisely, drove sweetly, and demonstrated a willingness to hit over the top. Had umpire Kumar Dharmasena not sawn him off twice at Nagpur – before apologising – Cook would surely have surpassed Ken Barrington’s 51-year-old England record for the most runs in a series in India (594), although he was gracious enough to admit he had received the rub of the green a couple of times; he finished instead with 562, though in four Tests to Barrington’s five. And at Kolkata he became the first England player to rack up 23 Test centuries, and the only man from any nation to pass 7,000 runs before the age of 28. It was monumental stuff.