Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
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| Andrew Strauss: England’s rock with 126 and an undefeated 94© Getty Images |
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Andrew Strauss made short work of wrapping up an historic victory for England on the final morning of the first Test at Port Elizabeth. Time may not have been of the essence, although winning before the forecast rains came was, but Strauss and the solid Graham Thorpe hurried England along to the 49 runs required in just 36 minutes. This is their eighth consecutive Test victory, a new national record, and the seven-wicket win gives them a 1-0 lead in the series.The young Dale Steyn was forced out of the attack after two overs, as Strauss steered him fine for four, hooked a six picked from outside off stump and then slashed another four high and long over third man. Graeme Smith replaced him, but he could find no breakthrough with his part-time offspin.The winning runs came when Strauss cut Makhaya Ntini past backward point for four. It was fitting that Strauss – the obvious choice as Man of the Match – should deliver the historic eighth win. He dominated the scoring this morning, collecting 41 runs to Thorpe’s eight, and still has a spotless record as an England player: played eight, won eight.Just to rub it in for South Africa, two hours after the match finished the rain poured down: it’s unlikely that any play would have been possible after lunch.In the end, the historic win came at a canter for England. But victory was no foregone conclusion in a match which ebbed and flowed like the tide on the nearby Port Elizabeth beaches. England shaded the first day by taking seven wickets – including Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis for ducks – and bossed the second through an opening stand of 151 between Strauss and Marcus Trescothick, only for South Africa to bounce right back into the match on the third.They removed Strauss early on, then Makhaya Ntini took three wickets in four balls to shake England to the core – and they went on to lose seven wickets for 159 runs. But in a madcap scramble after tea, England’s tail put on 67 for the last two wickets, which must have done some serious psychological damage to the South Africans.Steve Harmison should have been out twice to Dale Steyn, but was dropped once and then when he was caught – by Thami Tsolekile – the umpire had called no-ball. Harmison and Simon Jones should both have been run out as well, but South Africa let them off the hook in what was probably the decisive passage of the match. Still, it could have gone either way at the start of the fourth day – until a collapse even more dramatic than England’s had been.South Africa lost their last seven wickets for 87 runs – and this time there were no low-order high jinks, as England wrested back the initiative one last time. Mind you, South Africa had a ray of hope as Trescothick and Mark Butcher both fell for ducks – and Michael Vaughan’s departure represented a further wobble at 50 for 3 – but the impressive Strauss made no mistakes and, with the phlegmatic Thorpe, applied the finishing touches to a very real test.Jenny Thompson is assistant editor of Cricinfo.