DURBAN, South Africa: Moeen Ali took three wickets on Wednesday as England made quick work of securing victory in the first Test by bundling out South Africa for 174 before lunch and ensure a 241-run win on the last day at Kingsmead.
It was only the second triumph in the opening Test of a series for England in 11 years as South Africa’s status as the top-ranked Test nation looked distinctly hollow, extending their number of successive Tests without a win to seven.
England will take a massive morale boost into the rest of the four-Test series with a quick turnaround time before the second Test starts in Cape Town on Saturday.
“It was a pretty good Test match,” a smiling England captain Alastair Cook said afterwards.
“It’s always nice to start a series well and to as well as we did was really pleasing.”
South Africa already had their backs to the wall at 136 for four wickets overnight, chasing an improbable 416 for a win, and their hopes of survival rested heavily on AB de Villiers.
But the stumper-batsman lasted only three balls at the start of the final day and was out on his overnight score of 37.
De Villiers was trapped leg before wicket to Ali and failed to overturn the decision on review with the television technology showing the ball would have grazed the leg stump.
South Africa had still not added a run to their overnight tally when Temba Bavuma was stumped by Jonny Bairstow off Ali’s bowling in just his second over of the day.
Nightwatchman Dale Steyn was bowled by Steven Finn, who had been the wrecker-in-chief late on the fourth day, and Kyle Abbott was also trapped lbw by Ali as England grabbed the first four wickets of the day for just seven runs.
Dane Piedt tried his best at stonewalling, going 27 balls without scoring before edging a ball from Chris Woakes onto his pads, which popped up for James Taylor to catch at short-leg.
The last man out was Morne Morkel, leg before to Stuart Broad for eight, leaving JP Duminy 26 not out as he held up one end for South Africa.
Finn finished with figures of 4-42, while Ali took 3-47.
“It was not a good Christmas. We didn’t play half as well as we could and we’ve got a lot of work to do now,” said South Africa coach Russell Domingo.
The second Test at Newlands runs from January 2-6 with the two remaining matches in Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Score Board
South Africa won toss
England 1st innings 303 all-out (N Compton 85; Steyn 4-70)
South Africa 1st innings 214 all-out (AB de Villiers 49; Broad 4-25)
England 2nd innings 326 all-out (J Bairstow 79; Piedt 5-153)
South Africa 2nd innings
D Elgar c Root b Finn 40
S van Zyl b Stokes 33
*H M Amla c Bairstow b Finn 12
†A B de Villiers lbw b Ali 37
F du Plessis c Cook b Finn 9
D W Steyn b Finn 2
T Bavuma st Bairstow b Ali 0
J P Duminy not out 26
K J Abbott lbw b Ali 2
D L Piedt c Taylor b Woakes 0
M Morkel lbw b Broad 8
Extras (b 2, lb 3) 5
Total (all out; 71 overs) 174
Fall: 1-53, 2-85, 3-88, 4-136, 5-136, 6-136, 7-138, 8-143, 9-155, 10-174
Bowling: Broad 13-5-29-1; Woakes 10-5-25-1; Finn 15-6-42-4; Stokes 7-1-26-1; Ali 26-9-47-3
Result: England won by 241 runs
Series: England lead the 4-match series by 1-0
Test debut: A D Hales (England)
Man of the Match: M M Ali (England)
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and R J Tucker (Australia). TV umpire: B N J Oxenford (Australia). Match referee: R S Madugalle (Sri Lanka)
South Africa add two players to squad for second Test
DURBAN, South Africa: South Africa added wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock and fast bowler Chris Morris to their squad for the second Test against England, which starts in Cape Town on Saturday, just minutes after being beaten in the first match in Durban on Wednesday.
Uncertainty over the fitness of world’s top Test bowler Dale Steyn has seen selectors add Morris while de Kock’s inclusion suggests that AB de Villiers might not be required to keep wickets again and will instead be allowed to concentrate on his batting.
De Villiers had returned with the gloves behind the wickets for the first Test in Durban to allow South Africa to add an extra batsman in their line-up but the team scored 214 and 174 in their two innings.
Steyn suffered a shoulder spasm in the second innings and his absence was keenly felt as the home team lost by 241 runs to England.
South Africa had originally named a 13-man squad for the first two Tests because of the quick turnaround between the matches.
“Following our performance and injuries in the first Test, we have recognised the need to bolster the squad,” said Linda Zondi, Cricket South Africa’s convener of selectors.
“This will provide us with more selection options for the second Test match at Newlands.”
Squad: Hashim Amla (captain), Kyle Abbott, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, Stiaan van Zyl.