It is time to rejoice for the England fans. The Ben Stokes-led side registered another series win under their new captain. This time, it is against fighting South Africa which recently bagged the top spot in the World Test Championship. Incidentally, the hosts thrashed the proteas by nine wickets in the Third Test, held at the Oval on Monday.
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This victory meant they clinched the series 2-1, a positive result for Ben Stokes and his men who are looking at a revival of fortunes. Earlier, the first Test was won by South Africa and it raised talks of yet another England collapse in the series. However, the new-looked England side rode on the performance of their main bowlers, especially James Anderson and Stuart Broad, to win the second and third Tests, by big margins.
The new era of England cricket has started on bang at home, they were ruthless, and played some positive cricket in the last 3 months:
Beat NZ (3-0)
Beat IND in the 5th Test
Beat SA (2-1)Welcome to Stokes – Bazz generation in England Test cricket. pic.twitter.com/dTZMusg7uz
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 12, 2022
England were the clear favourites
Coming into the final day, England only needed 33 runs to register the win. The home team resumed on 97-0, reached that target in 5.3 overs. Opener Zack Crawley remained not out on 69. Incidentally, this was South Africa’s first series loss in tests, since Dean Elgar took over as the Test captain.
Meanwhile, England has now won six of their first seven Tests under the new leadership. The new unit comprises all-rounder Ben Stokes and former New Zealand cricketer Brendon McCullum. It needs to be noted that they managed to win only one win in their last 17 Tests under former skipper Joe Root.
England's leading run-scorers in Test cricket this summer:
Jonny Bairstow – 681 runs @ 75.66
Joe Root – 615 runs @ 68.33
Ollie Pope – 456 runs @ 38
Ben Stokes – 368 runs @ 40.88#ENGvSA pic.twitter.com/cIHzLyCmfG— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 12, 2022
“We’ve started off the summer with six wins in seven matches. A different challenge in Pakistan, the spin will play a big role, we’ll go in with the same positive mindset,” says England skipper Ben Stokes.
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Clearly, England is striking the right notes. However, a good beginning is only half done. As a result, they would hope that the new coach and skipper continue to march the team ahead. The focus is going to be next summer’s Ashes.
