Image Credit- ESPN CricInfo.
Venue- The Oval, London [19-23 July 2012].
In the Summer of 2012, South African Cricket Team toured England to play 3 Tests, 5 ODIs and 2 T20 International. The First Test of the Series was scheduled to take place in the historic ground of Oval. England Captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat first on what looked like a batting paradise. Unfortunately, Morne Morkel dismissed him for a duck in the fourth ball of the first over. The English Scorecard read 0/1 when Trott joined Cook in the middle. An early wicket did push the Hosts on backfoot, but the duo of Cook and Trott batted sensibly and took England out of danger. The pair added 170 runs as the English came out hard on the Proteas attack. Cook led from the front and scored a magnificent 115 as the Hosts posted 385 in their first innings. Apart from Cook, Trott and Prior scored valuable Half-Centuries. Whereas for Proteas Morne Morkel was the leading wicket taker as he picked up 4 crucial wickets.
The Game was evenly poised when the English came out to bowl. However, Anderson dismissed Petersen for a duck as the Proteas got an early shock. The South African scorecard read 1/1 when Hashim Amla joined Captain Smith in the middle. The Visitors were on a backfoot, and the Hosts were on a kill. As a result, the Proteas needed a partnership to come out of this troubled situation. However, what happened next was something truly unbelievable. Hashim Amla scored an unbeaten 311 and turned the tables upside down. Apart from Amla, Kallis (182*) and Smith (131) too scored gritty centuries as Proteas declared at a score of 637/2. The trio of Amla, Kallis and Smith literally blew away the English bowling attack. The Hosts looked helpless as the Visitors batted for around 189 overs. It is interesting to note that it was the month of Ramadan and Hashim Amla was on a fast. But, despite being on a fast, Amla batted for around 790 minutes. In an innings comprising of 529 deliveries, he scored 35 boundaries and massacred the English Attack.
The Hosts were 252 runs behind the Visitors Total. So, it was necessary for them that they bat in the remaining overs for ensuring a draw. However, the duo of Steyn and Tahir had some other plans as they bowled English out for just 240 runs in their second innings. Steyn picked up 5 whereas Tahir picked up 3 wickets as Hosts got bundled down. It was truly a magnificent performance by the Proteas Bowling Line-up as they won this test match by an innings and 12 runs.
To watch the Highlights of that Test Match, Click Here.
No comments:
Post a Comment