1st Investec Test Match England vs South Africa, The Kia Oval, London
So unbelivably proud of my boys. Today they beat England (well crushed them really) to go 1-0 up in a 3 match series. The World No1 Test team ranking is up for grabs in this series (England are the current World No1 team).
Obviously the tour started out crappy with Mark's horrific injury, but in true South African style they have turned hurt into determination. In fact this win is the biggest landslide in a Test match since 1924 in terms of runs scored vs wickets lost. In reality it equates to South Africa scoring 637 runs for the loss of 2 wickets, yet England fell 12 short of that run total after losing all 20 wickets of theirs. Marky's bestie Jacques dedicated his 182 runs to Mark, Graeme dedicated his 131 to his child who he is now on the way back home to see being born, and Hashim rocked the record books to become the first South African player ever (not just since their re-admission since apartheid) to score 311 not out. Bowler Dale Steyn also proved why he is the World's no1 fast bowler by ripping through England in the second innings to take 5 wickets alone.
And this all happened with the teams usual Golden Boy Abraham DeVilliers (icon) having relatively no impact on the game. Due to Mark's injury, Abe stepped in as wicket keeper and although he is a good athlete and wicket keeper, he is not a great one in comparison to Mark. This was shown to some extent when particularly today he was keeping to spinner Imran Tahir and dropped 3 catches and generally had a rough time of it. He's usually the golden boy for scoring runs and being an amazing fielder, but this time he was keeping, so not a general fielder, and due to the top 4 batsman scoring heavily, he was not even required to bat.
The final result being:
England 385 & 240
South Africa 637/2 declared
South Africa won by an innings and 12 runs
I have a massive grin on my face right now. Hopefully they can carry the momentum forward and beat England in the 2nd Test beginning Thursday week.
Squee I can't wait to see my boys in the T20 in September. I'm half debating not wearing my usual De Villiers 17 shirt and getting either a Kallis 3 shirt or a Boucher 9 just for support of Marky.
Obviously the tour started out crappy with Mark's horrific injury, but in true South African style they have turned hurt into determination. In fact this win is the biggest landslide in a Test match since 1924 in terms of runs scored vs wickets lost. In reality it equates to South Africa scoring 637 runs for the loss of 2 wickets, yet England fell 12 short of that run total after losing all 20 wickets of theirs. Marky's bestie Jacques dedicated his 182 runs to Mark, Graeme dedicated his 131 to his child who he is now on the way back home to see being born, and Hashim rocked the record books to become the first South African player ever (not just since their re-admission since apartheid) to score 311 not out. Bowler Dale Steyn also proved why he is the World's no1 fast bowler by ripping through England in the second innings to take 5 wickets alone.
And this all happened with the teams usual Golden Boy Abraham DeVilliers (icon) having relatively no impact on the game. Due to Mark's injury, Abe stepped in as wicket keeper and although he is a good athlete and wicket keeper, he is not a great one in comparison to Mark. This was shown to some extent when particularly today he was keeping to spinner Imran Tahir and dropped 3 catches and generally had a rough time of it. He's usually the golden boy for scoring runs and being an amazing fielder, but this time he was keeping, so not a general fielder, and due to the top 4 batsman scoring heavily, he was not even required to bat.
The final result being:
England 385 & 240
South Africa 637/2 declared
South Africa won by an innings and 12 runs
I have a massive grin on my face right now. Hopefully they can carry the momentum forward and beat England in the 2nd Test beginning Thursday week.
Click to viewSquee I can't wait to see my boys in the T20 in September. I'm half debating not wearing my usual De Villiers 17 shirt and getting either a Kallis 3 shirt or a Boucher 9 just for support of Marky.