And in a microcosm of what was an LV= Insurance Series bearing few of the hallmarks of old-fashioned, long-run cricket, England then produced the rare series of strokes to leave their truncated finale in the balance. The tourists played as if they had a plane to catch, wasting little time in making their mark – and an ignominious one at that – in a match that finally started 48 hours behind schedule as they were bundled out for just 118 by an Ollie Robinson-inspired England in what is the shortest opening game in 142 years of Test cricket at the Kia Oval. Ollie Robinson led the charge as England made a blistering start against South Africa At 36.2 overs long, it fell comfortably short of England’s previous effort of 42.1 in the 1948 Ashes and opened the way for Ben Stokes’ side to push for a sixth win in seven in what turned out to be a great summer. However, they did so in a manner arguably more reckless than anything that has come before. This was Bazball on steroids. And when bad light intervened for a decisive last over at 6.28pm, they were leading by 36 with just three wickets standing. The competition is already far enough along to produce the positive result the ECB sought when they asked their South African counterparts to extend the match by an extra day after Friday’s match was canceled out of respect for Queen Elizabeth. England cricketers observe a minute’s silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II Then again, anyone who thought this match was destined to end in a draw, given the loss of two full days of play, clearly hasn’t been paying attention. These two teams headed south of the Thames having traded a blow each in crushing victories that didn’t last long enough to cover the allocation of a match’s overs between them. And England’s penchant for playing fast-forward meant they opened up the opportunity for the South Africans to orchestrate a victory of their own that would return them to the top of the World Test Championship table. That England were in credit just before 17.45 was thanks almost entirely to the efforts of Oval specialist Ollie Pope. Robinson celebrates with captain Ben Stokes after taking the early wicket of Dean Elgar The England No 3 arrived at the crease after opening pair Alex Lees and Zak Crawley were quickly separated for the umpteenth time, with a first-class average of 88.54 at their home county of Surrey. At times, in admittedly testing conditions due to the darkness and humidity on either side of the tea, he played like a Bradman-style numbers man. But there was enough loose hitting at the other end to keep the South Africans interested. Despite the danger of batting in such conditions, on a pitch that offers bounce and seam movement, there was a refusal from the home side to kneel and the policy certainly appealed to the recalled Marco Janssen, one of four changes for the South African. club. Having earlier top-scored with 30 to rescue the South Africans from 36 for six and push them into triple figures, the giant left-armer chipped one behind a steady push from Lees and then ended Crawley’s latest miserable stay with a cast iron. leg-before the dismissal which the Kent batsman inexplicably reviewed. It was the perfect start for England as Elgar was dismissed by Robinson in just the second over With Pope punishing an uncharacteristically erratic Kagiso Rabada, who was regularly over and over, and Joe Root doubling for the first time in the series, it looked like England’s free-wheeling approach might succeed once again. Only for Jansen to land some decisive strikes early in the evening. No addition had been made to the tea score of 84 for two when Root lost concentration and fell to the slip rope, where he was caught spectacularly by a diving Keegan Petersen. When Harry Brook followed up the debutant for a dozen, by bringing a short ball to fine leg, England were still behind. However, there were no signs of restraint. England captain Ben Stokes had highlighted the value of such quality in Manchester last month, scoring hundreds, but failed to capitalize on a horrific hack that narrowly avoided Dean Elgar’s mid-match dive when he beat Enrich. Nortje later in the same over. Khaya Zondo and Marco Jansen shared a 33-year partnership before lunch in a mini comeback And so when Pope, for a top score of 67, and Stuart Broad hit the returning Rabada fatally, it felt as if the momentum had been abandoned at the start of an emotional day. After a respectful 10-minute spell before the game, in which a near-full house of 27,000 fell silent, barring two rousing renditions of the national anthem by Laura Wright — singing South Africa’s Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika for the first time, before the first rendition of God Save The King in sporting event in this country since 1952. England’s players appeared to use the emotion to their advantage in what proved to be an explosive start to the match. Robinson, the youngest of the trio of bowlers, was the most impressive, using his high release point to take advantage of the extra rise off the surface and his ability to lift the ball in any way to put indecision in the minds of opponents of. Robinson receives a standing ovation from The Oval crowd after taking his fifth wicket of the day Elgar was slow to react to one that was cut in the second over of the morning and Pietersen pushed hands to one that required play. At the other end, the evergreens Jimmy Anderson and Broad tempted the nicknames from left-handers Sarel Erwee and Ryan Rickelton. There were no dropouts from Robinson either. The first of two dismissals completed by keeper Ben Foakes sent back Kyle Verreynne and plunged the Sussex bowler’s average below 20. The second, which represented Wiaan Mulder, left the South Africans six down shortly after the drinks break. Stuart Broad was also in good bowling form as he took four wickets in just over 12 overs His persistence, after a brief wag of the tourists’ tail, was rewarded when Jansen sliced to first slip to complete a five-wicket haul and leave Robinson one shy of 50 in just his 11th Test. Broad, a bowler at the other end of his career, swept the rest to finish with four victims of his own to draw level with Australia’s Glenn McGrath on 563 Test wickets, only for the attack’s hard work to be somewhat undone by it . of the batting of England. Keshav Maharaj reached the 1,000 Test milestone but was soon run out by Broad Alex Lees made a quick start as England took the bat, moving to 13 from five balls Joe Root and Ollie Pope shared a 41-run partnership before tea as England found their rhythm
