CAPE TOWN: Inspired by a fiery spell from Ben Stokes, England broke South Africa’s resistance in the final session of the second Test on Tuesday to win in Cape Town for the first time in 63 years and level the series 1-1 with two matches to play.

England’s prolonged push for victory, which started soon after lunch on the fourth day, was finally realized with 8.2 overs left with a burst of three wickets in 14 balls from Stokes at Newlands.

Those final wickets were all caught in the slips, ending with Vernon Philander’s edge taken by captain Joe Root to set off wild England celebrations.

England won by 189 runs for their first Test success in Cape Town since a team containing Denis Compton and Jim Laker won in 1957. It’s right back in the series with Tests to come in Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg.

The win will be especially pleasing for England for the way they stuck to their task on a flat fifth-day wicket, with Stokes’s superb burst earning the all-rounder figures of 3-35.

“A great day’s play and a great Test match,” England seamer Stuart Broad told Sky Sports. “We had to work incredibly hard, we knew we were going to have to do that.

“It was incredible discipline from South Africa throughout the day but we kept saying one bit of magic.

“We set some funky fields. One breakthrough and we could apply some pressure. You need a lot of character and skill to chase 10 wickets. We are proud of taking our chances.”

South Africa survived three full sessions in this Test but couldn’t quite make it through to the end of the last one of the match. Opener Pieter Malan made 84 in the second innings on his Test debut.

England’s victory came through a mixture of patience and invention on a pitch that flattened out significantly for the bowlers and helped South Africa’s final-day cause. England had to change things up.

Two key breakthroughs for England in the final reckoning came as a result of an unorthodox field set by Root. Quinton de Kock was caught in a packed leg-side field off the bowling of part-time spinner Joe Denly. De Kock had just reached 50 when he hit a short ball straight to Zak Crawley close at midwicket.

Rassie van der Dussen, who encapsulated South Africa’s stubbornness with 17 off 140 balls, went just five overs after de Kock. Van der Dussen was caught at the unusual position of leg slip by James Anderson off Stuart Broad and the double strike knocked the stuffing out of South Africa.

The end came quickly after that. Stokes took two wickets in two balls when tailenders Dwaine Pretorius and Anrich Nortje fell one after the other. Crawley clung on to his second important catch of the innings when he palmed the edge from Nortje up into the air and then caught it with one hand while lying on his back. Stokes ended it four overs later.

England had South Africa 126-2 overnight. And having taken just two wickets in the day’s first session, and one in the second session, England romped through the last five wickets for just 11 runs in 17 overs.

England set South Africa 438 to win the Test, but that became irrelevant as South Africa attempted to bat out the day for a draw.

Veteran fast bowler James Anderson took 2-23 in the innings and seven wickets in the match. Denly had 2-42 and man-of-the-match Stokes finished with 3-35 to go with six catches and his blitz with the bat in England’s second innings, which effectively put the Test beyond South Africa.

Stokes blasted 72 off 47 balls to propel England to 391-8 declared in their second innings on day four, setting South Africa a mammoth task.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND (1st Innings) 269 (O.J. Pope 61 not out, B.A. Stokes 47; K. Rabada 3-68).

SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings) 223 (D. Elgar 88, H.E. van der Dussen 68; J.M. Anderson 5-40).

ENGLAND (2nd Innings) 391-8 declared (D.P. Sibley 133 not out, B.A. Stokes 72, J.E. Root 61; A. Nortje 3-61).

SOUTH AFRICA (2nd Innings, overnight 126-2):

P.J. Malan c Stokes b Curran 84

D. Elgar c Buttler b Denly 34

Zubayr Hamza c Buttler b Anderson 18

K.A. Maharaj lbw b Anderson 2

F. du Plessis c Denly b Bess 19

H.E. van der Dussen c Anderson b Broad 17

Q. de Kock c Crawley b Denly 50

V.D. Philander c Pope b Stokes 8

D. Pretorius c Root b Stokes 0

A. Nortje c Crawley b Stokes 0

K. Rabada not out 3

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-2, W-2, NB-5) 13

TOTAL (all out, 137.4 overs) 248

FALL OF WKTS: 1-71, 2-123, 3-129, 4-164, 5-171, 6-237, 7-237, 8-241, 9-241.

BOWLING: Anderson 18-9-23-2; Broad 23-8-37-1; Bess 33-14-57-1; Curran 16-4-37-1 (1nb, 1w); Denly 18-4-42-2; Root 6-0-11-0; Stokes 23.4-8-35-3 (4nb, 1w).

RESULT: England won by 189 runs to level four-match series 1-1.

UMPIRES: H.D.P.K. Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and P.R. Reiffel (Australia).

TV UMPIRE: C.B. Gaffaney (New Zealand).

MATCH REFEREE: A.J. Pycroft (Zimbabwe).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Ben Stokes.

FIRST TEST: Centurion, South Africa won by 107 runs.

THIRD TEST: Port Elizabeth, Jan 16-20.

FOURTH TEST: Johannesburg, Jan 24-28.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2020