South Africa vs England: Tourists escape with draw after flirting with defeat in second Test

Not out: Bairstow scrambled to 30 not out as England reached 159-6 at the close
Getty
Chris Stocks6 January 2016

England escaped with a draw after flirting with defeat on a dramatic final day of this second Test against South Africa in Cape Town.

Memories of the Adelaide Ashes Test in 2006, perhaps the most painful loss for England in recent memory, came flooding back as this current side slumped to 127 for six midway through the afternoon session.

However, a 43-run stand between Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali saw off fears of a repeat at Newlands and blunted South African hopes of a series-levelling victory.

Those hopes were finally extinguished 16 minutes after tea when rain and bad light combined to bring a premature close to the match, with 31 overs left unbowled.

England will now head to Johannesburg for next week’s third Test with the 1-0 lead they gained courtesy of their victory in Durban and with hopes of toppling the world’s No1 side over the course of this four-match series still very much alive.

South Africa, with their opponents three without loss overnight and holding a lead of five, had turned up on this final day more in hope than expectation given they needed all 10 English wickets to give themselves any chance of victory.

Home expectations, though, rose markedly when England lost captain Alastair Cook and Alex Hales within the first three overs of the day.

The early wobble sparked thoughts of that infamous defeat against Australia just over nine years ago, when on the final day at Adelaide a side led by Andrew Flintoff lost their last nine wickets in 57 overs and were left shell-shocked when Australia chased down 168 to win.

That England team declared their first innings on 551 for six. This current one did the same on 629 for six to move into an even more impregnable position.

No side has scored as many runs in their first innings and lost a Test match.

Thankfully Cook’s men avoided making their own piece of unwanted history.

Yet England had given the record books a run for their money.

After stumbling into lunch on 87 for four – a lead of just 89 – they lost another two wickets in the first hour of the afternoon session.

Ben Stokes, who hit the second-fastest Test double hundred earlier in the match, was the first to go after lunch, top-edging a sweep to spinner Dane Piedt to Morne Morkel at deep midwicket.

James Taylor then followed two overs later, caught at short leg to hand Piedt his third wicket of the day as England subsided to 116 for six.

In Adelaide nine years ago Shane Warne took four wickets on the final day. Piedt is no Warne but assumed the Australian leg-spinner’s role from that match here.

He had earlier taken the fourth England wicket to fall before lunch, Nick Compton another batsman playing an injudicious shot and chipping to short mid-on.

South Africa had turned this game on its head on day four when declaring their first-innings on 627 for seven.

But the game still looked certain to finish in a draw after Cook and Hales saw off the final six overs of the day.

England knew they needed to bat sensibly this morning to kill off any hopes of an unlikely home win.

But unexpected drama was injected into what should have been the dullest of mornings when Cook was caught behind in the second over of the day, strangling Kasigo Rabada down the legside.

Hales followed 15 balls later, the victim of a stunning catch at third slip by Chris Morris, Morne Morkel extracting the edge.

The dull pitch of the previous four days suddenly seemed to come alive, the extra pace of Morkel in particular getting something extra out the surface.

If England were disturbed at finding themselves 19 for two so early in the day they would have been panicking at 55 for three after Joe Root was bowled on 29 by a beautiful full ball from Morris.

Compton followed before lunch and, after the two wickets early in the afternoon session, South Africa sensed an opportunity to win this game from nowhere.

They had a chance, too, to crank up the pressure when they appealed for a stumping to remove Bairstow on 20.

Wicketkeeper Quinton De Kock seemed convinced he had got England’s first-innings centurion and the on-field umpires went upstairs to TV official Rod Tucker for an official verdict.

If the call had gone South Africa’s way England would have been 147 for seven and leading by just 149 with more than 42 overs of the day left.

The call was so tight Tucker took almost five minutes to come back with a decision, finally giving the benefit of the doubt to Bairstow, much to England’s relief.

From that point South African heads dropped amid the fading light as England ensured there was no more drama on an unexpectedly eventful final day.

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