Credit: England Cricket
On September 12, 2022, England bagged a nine-wicket win against South Africa in the third and final Test of the series played at The Oval in London. On the fifth and final day of the Test, England required 33 more runs to win the series by a 2-1 margin, which they did convincingly. Bowling first after winning the toss, the English side bundled out the Proteas on 118 in the first innings. Ollie Robinson bagged a fifer while Stuart Broad picked up a four-wicket haul. Following the low score, the home side posted a total of 158. Facing disciplined bowling from Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, Ollie Pope scored 67 off 77 and emerged as the highest run-scorer for his side.
In the second innings, England bowlers looked exceptional as Broad again stepped up for them and picked up three wickets. Ben Stokes also bagged a three-wicket haul. Anderson and Robinson picked up two wickets apiece. South Africa’s batting attack capitulated after scoring 169 runs in 56.2 overs and delivered a target of 130 to the home side.
England chased down the target comfortably
Pursuing the target, England openers Alex Lees and Zak Crawley looked dominating. After the end of the fourth day’s play, both batters returned to the pavilion with their unbeaten knocks, taking their team to 97/0. On the final day, Lees got dismissed against Rabada after scoring 39 runs off 73 balls. Both Lees and Zak Crawley stitched a 108-run stand for the opening wicket.
Crawley stood in the middle until the end and took the hosts home with his unbeaten 67-run knock off just 57 deliveries. Ollie Pope also chipped in with his unbeaten 11 runs off 10 balls. In England’s one-sided win, Robinson became the player of the match (POTM) for claiming seven wickets in the contest.
