England’s tour of South Africa is already underway, and with honours shared in the recent Twenty20 series, attention moves to the gruelling ODIs followed, by a mouth-watering Test Match series. Sport.co.uk thought they would take a look at the most memorable clashes between these two great cricketing nations.
10. 5th Test, Centurion, 2000 After the first three days were rained off, South African captain Hansie Cronje proposed to Nasser Hussain that both sides forfeited their first innings. Despite initially declining the offer, England’s skipper eventually agreed – meaning, for the first time in Test history, each side would wilfully bat once. Chasing 249 from 76 overs, England suffered a middle order collapse, leaving nine runs needed from the final 13 balls. Bowlers Darren Gough and Chris Silverwood steered the tourists to victory, inflicting South Africa’s first defeat in fifteen Tests.
9. 3rd Test, Edgbaston, 2008 Chasing 283 to secure South Africa’s first Test series win in England for 43 years, the tourists were palpably nervous. Batsmen two to five had lost their wickets for an aggregate of 35 runs, leaving Graeme Smith’s side 93-4 and on the precipice of failure. Until, that was, the captain decided to not die wondering. Smith took responsibility for his teams innings with a display of instinctive aggression, his 154* ending a near half-century record as the Proteas emerged victorious.
8. 2nd One Day International, Johannesburg, 2005 After striking a confident 22* in a rain-affected first ODI, much was expected of Kevin Pietersen in the next match. He didn’t disappoint. Having been jeered by his homeland’s fans at the start of the innings, a determined KP set about bludgeoning the Proteas attack. It seemed his 108* off 96 balls had been in vain, with South Africa needing just three off the game’s final over. Incredibly, they scored only two runs, and the match was tied.
7. 3rd One Day International, Port Elizabeth, 2000 This time it was England who lacked the requisite composure for a last-over triumph. Chasing a very attainable 204 for victory, the tourists made slow yet steady progress to 72-1. However, as the run-rate lurched ominously toward seven an over, England’s batsmen betrayed a growing sense of panic. Wickets were thrown away with rash shots, leaving bowlers Darren Gough and Andy Caddick on strike for the final six deliveries. With a boundary required, Gough could only hit two off the last ball.
6. 4th Test, Johannesburg, 2005 At the start of play on the final day the smart money was on a draw, given that England's overnight lead of 189 was decent but not decisive. Their declaration at lunch left South Africa 325 to win in just 68 overs, a negative decision made due to the tourists’ injury-afflicted bowling attack. No-one, however, had told Matthew Hoggard that a draw was the expected outcome. The Yorkshireman, often dismissed as being full of endeavour but lacking in rarefied quality, won England the game (and the series) with a fantastic bowling spell of 7-61.
5. World Cup Group Stage, The Oval, 1999 After England’s auspicious start to the tournament, this group stage thrashing – the hosts’ first defeat of the World Cup – was forgiven as a blip. As it transpired, England’s woeful performance was so damaging to their net run rate that it hastened their early exit from the competition. Set 225 to win, they were all out for 103 in 41 overs. Allan Donald, later to become England’s bowling coach, was in fearsome form as he took 4-17.
4. World Cup Group Stage, 1992, Melbourne England were on a 11-match unbeaten run going into this World Cup encounter. With a bowling attack hindered by injuries, no-one expected Alec Stewart’s team to win. The walking wounded seam attack performed admirably to restrict South Africa to 236. Never ones to do things easily in a run chase, England were faced with the awkward prospect of ten runs off the last two overs. With one delivery remaining, the scores were tied - Phil “Daffy” Defreitas (with 0 to his name) on strike. As journalists everywhere anticipated a potential “Daffy goes for a duck” headline, the bowler hit the winning run.
3. 5th Test, 1998, Headingley In a match beset by mediocrity, England stuttered to a victory in the final Test – their first major series win in nearly 12 years. An expectant Headingley was sold out as the 5th day commenced, the tourists on 185-8, needing 34 to win. Luckily England had a natural showman, the Yorkshireman Darren Gough, in their ranks. Far from being paralysed by nerves, Gough seemed galvanised as he claimed the last two wickets by the seventh over of the day.
2. 2nd Test, 2003, Lord’s Two wondrous innings from the game’s two talismanic figures soured Michael Vaughan’s first Test as captain. With a spell at the crease that it seemed would be interminable, Graeme Smith hit 259 of his team’s 682-6 – leaving England facing their biggest ever first innings deficit (509). South Africa would go on to win by an innings and 92 runs, but not before Andrew Flintoff had restored English pride. Fred proved the maxim that there is nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose, scoring 142 with some devastating power-hitting.
1. 2nd Test, 1995, Johannesburg Mike Atherton’s innings here was a paragon of obstinacy at the crease. After seeing his decision to make the Proteas bat first backfire, the England captain had to atone for that error in his country’s second innings. A target of 479 from five sessions was highly improbable, marginally less so England batting out time to salvage a draw – and yet they managed it. Atherton batted for 643 minutes, scoring 185*, and the Test series remained level.