ENG v SA, 3rd Test Day 5 Review: Moeen Ali, Roland-Jones bowl England to big win

Dean Elgar’s gritty 136 was the only bright shining light in the visitor’s batting performance in the second essay. South Africa were staring down the barrel when they lost four of their top order wickets last evening. Only a miracle could have saved them lurching to a defeat on the final day of the iconic 100th Test at the Kennington Oval.

Moeen Ali claims a hattrick

In the end, they bowed down to England’s steady and disciplined bowling performance, handing the hosts a gigantic 239 run win. Moeen Ali, who wants to play as a batsman who could bowl a bit, yet again proved his effectiveness in spinning conditions returning with 4/45 in the final innings including a hattrick. Elgar’s resistance was complimented by Temba Bavuma but the latter lost his wicket to debutant Roland-Jones, who ended the game with match figures of 8/129. Philander walked out to bat at No. 8 but was sent back off the next ball in a similar fashion to Bavuma – leg before the wicket.

Elgar brought up his 8th Test century in the morning session and went into the first interval remaining unbeaten on 113. Proteas were jittered with the consecutive wickets of Bavuma and Philander but a decent partnership between Elgar and Morris developed only to be broken on the final ball of the session. Morris edged one off Moeen to be caught by Stokes at the lone slip to leave South Africa on the brink of losing the Test as they had slipped to 205 for 7.

South Africa could last just 11 overs after lunch

After the lunch break, the hosts needed just 67 balls to bundle out their opposition. All three wickets went to Moeen Ali as he picked his first hattrick in Test cricket, spread across two overs. The dismissal – c Stokes b Ali – became a mundane as the next two wickets fell in exactly the same fashion. Elgar’s stoic resistance came to an end when Ali tempted him to drive a loopy off-spinner but the ball gripped the surface with some help from the foot marks. All Elgar could do was edge it the Stokes, who had a field day at the slips. The next delivery was an action replay – Rabada pushing forward to a delivery which was spinning across him only to edge it to Stokes again.

As ironic as it may sound, this was the first Test hattrick at The Oval, coming in the 100th Test at this venue. It wasn’t a straightforward one as England had to review a close LBW shout by Moeen when he bowled an arm ball first up to No. 11 Morne Morkel. The replays suggested that the ball would have crashed into the leg stump and the decision was reversed in favor of the home side.

Morris and Keshav Maharaj offered resistance, keeping Elgar some company. Morris was livid to get out at the last ball but he managed to contribute a fine 24. Maharaj’s tally was exactly the same, except that he faced half the number of balls faced by Morris’ 56. His stay at the crease was very positive as he smashed five boundaries in his knock and remained stranded when Moeen completed a hattrick.

This was Faf du Plessis’ first defeat as captain of South Africa in red-ball cricket. The only other defeat he faced at the helm was at Adelaide against Australia but it was a day-night affair which is played with the pink ball.

With just one Test match to go, the visitors are facing the heat to draw level at Manchester. They haven’t lost a series in England in 9 years and would like to keep that record intact.

The impressive debut of Roland-Jones is a huge positive for the hosts. He could be the support seamer to the old horses: Anderson and Broad and play a telling role in the forthcoming Ashes. He also scored 48 runs with the bat in the match after getting out once, which underlines his ability to handle the willow late in the innings.

The form of Keaton Jennings is a concern for England. He made 48 in the second innings, four more than what he has managed in the last five innings at the top of the order. Given the win, he might get another chance to shine at the Old Trafford.

Brief Scores:

England – 353 & 313 for 8 declared

South Africa – 175 & 252 all out (Dean Elgar 136, Temba Bavuma 32, Moeen Ali 4/45, Toby Roland-Jones 3/72).