In the end it was all South African as our boys also dominated at the presentation as well. Vernon Philander was named man of the match, deservedly and Hashim Amla was named South African man of the series and Matthew James Prior as the host men. With that Amla climbed to second in the world rankings.
England started the day at 16-2 chasing a record total of 346 to win by a 4th innings at Lords, writing was always on the wall. But excellent knocks from Trot, Bester in the middle, followed by an excellent batting later on by Prior, and tale-Enders of Brod and Graeme Swann, the impossible was initially a possibility. But Vernon Darryl Philander was too hot for English batsmen, as he captured a fiver to write his name on the honours board at Lords.
With just over 50 runs needed and the new ball due, and Prior smashing everything to the boundary, SA looked concerned. But they always knew that it will only take 2 balls and Vernon Darryl Philander provided them, when he had Matt Prior caught at first slip by Smith and with the very next ball he have Finn caught at second slip by Jacques Kallis and that was it, dream conquered.
But now the question remains, how can we sustain it for as long as possible? Smith said the debt is all what's going take. Let’s have 2-3 fast bowlers waiting in the wings to take over whenever called into action so as batsmen, that's the way we can surmount it. With our strong batting line up that we possess, for sure we can always score enough runs to defend them.
Trouncing England 2-0 on their home turf is an implausible foot by SA which should give them confidence mentality-wise to survive up hill battles lying ahead. Hashim Amla keep mountaineering in the batting world, and with excellent supports he is getting from the likes of Smith, Kallis, AB, Duminy etc. SA should be licking their lips at this occasion.
Ahead for the Proteas now is old enemies, Australia in Australia, can we repeat the 2008 heroics? Then it's New Zealand and Pakistan. With Gary Kirsten at the helm, everybody believed that it’s our turn to dominate the world stage again, and that time is indoors, let's see whether together can we keep it going... Next are 5 ODI’s and 3 T20 matches, trust me England won’t go down easily more so at home, just as the test series proved. Good luck to our boys.
Till next time…
By Fanele Mbuyazi
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