Boxing Day Test Match Special!

It’s that time of the year again, it’s Christmas and the much-awaited Boxing-day Test matches are just around the corner. England take on hosts Proteas at Kingsmed in Durban and dominant Aussies are up against battered and bruised Windies, who look for redemption. As a cricket enthusiast, I am very much excited by the England-South Africa clash and as we are ready to witness the Durban Test, let’s go down the memory lane and look back at that Test Match in 2009, the last time when these two sides locked horns against each other in the Boxing-day Test match.

Boxing Day Test Match begins on boxing day[Dec 26] each year and it's tradition began at MCG in 1974-75 Ashes

England narrowly escaped from the jaws of the defeat in the first Test at Centurion, thanks to Pietersen, Trott and Collingwood, their 2^nd instance when they saved the Test Match after being nine down. Going into the 2^nd Test, England looked at redemption and they knew they had to up the ante to match the fiercely-competitive Proteas side. South African captain Graeme Smith won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first. His decision though backfired soon after as English new ball bowlers Anderson and Onions bowled a disciplined line and length and runs were hard to come by. Anderson got rid of Prince for 2 in just the third over and Broad Claimed rock-solid Amla to reduce the home side to 10/2. The evergreen Jack Kallis and skipper Smith, bringing all the experience into play, played according to the situation and took the South African side out of the troubled waters with a steady partnership. Both the senior pros completed their respective half-centuries and South Africa found themselves in a dominant position at 151/2 at Tea on Day 1.But, soon after Tea, Kallis departed for 75, falling to off-spinner Swann and a mix-up between Smith and AB brought an end to former’s stay and Proteas were in a spot of bother at 166/4. Bad light brought an early end to Day 1 and South Africa were 175/5 at stumps, Duminy being the fifth batsman to fall.

On the second morning, Mark Boucher played an aggressive brand of cricket and along with AB de Villiers, stitched a useful 63-run partnership, before being out LBW to Swann for 39. AB got good support from Morkel as well and scored a steady half-century. AB was out for 50 and Swann picked up Morkel and Harris and South Africa were 285/9 just after lunch on Day 2. Dale Steyn, the South African No. 10, frustrated the English bowlers and contributed vital 47 runs before being caught behind off Anderson and Proteas were eventually bowled out for 343, definitely, a competitive first innings total.

                                                                        

England, in reply to South Africa’s 343, got off to a fluent start and Strauss, in particular, was in a positive mindset right from the beginning. England raced to their fifty in just the 11^th over and England captain Andrew Strauss got to his fifty at a rate better than run a ball and England found themselves in a good position at 59/0 at Tea on Day 2. Just as Day 1, bad light brought an early end to Day 2 as well and Strauss was the only English batsman to get out as England went into stumps at 103/1 with Cook being rock-solid and unbeaten on 31.

                                                                       

 On Day 3, England faced a tough resistance from South African bowlers, but, they found themselves in a great position by the time it was stumps on Day 3.

Cook elated after his 10th Test Ton

Cook and Collingwood produced a defining 142-run partnership before Cook fell for 118. It was Cook 10^th Test Hundred and a century worth its weight in gold. Collingwood was his own self, playing each ball on its merit and grounded his way to 91, being extremely unlucky to miss out on what could have been a hard-earned hundred. At stumps, England were 386/5, leading the proteas by 43 runs with Ian Bell being unbeaten on 55 and it turned out to be an absorbing day of Test Cricket with 283 runs being scored in the day off 97 overs at the loss of 4 wickets.

                                                                      

The overnight batsman Ian Bell and M Prior took guard on Day 4 and they had a huge responsibility of extending the lead into some sizeable number. The Bell-Prior partnership started to grow in stature and so did England’s total. Prior reached to his half-century and soon,

Bell celebrates his 9th Test Hundred

Ian Bell completed his 9^th Test Hundred. He once again showed what a class player he is and made the selectors know that he deserves a permanent place in the Test side. Prior was dismissed for valuable 60 and Bell got an able support from tail-enders Broad and Swann as England declared at mammoth 574/9, leading the hosts by 231 runs.

                                                                     

With more than 4 sessions to go and a deficit of 231 runs, South Africa faced an uphill task to save the Test match. It was important for openers to give the hosts a steady start in a bid to save the Test match. England captain Strauss introduced Swann into the attack in the 10^th over and the move yielded dividends as he struck just off his second delivery to send Prince on his way for 16. Just four overs later, Swann broke the defenses of Amla and castled his timber to reduce the Proteas to 37/2 just at the stroke of Tea on Day 4. Wickets continued to tumble after Tea as Kallis, de Villiers, Duminy and Smith fell and Proteas found themselves in deep, deep trouble at 50/6. Wicket-Keeper batsman Mark Boucher showed resistance just as he did in the first innings and managed to hang alongside Morkel till the end of day’s play as bad light brought an end to day’s proceedings and with Proteas at 76/6, England found themselves in a touching distance of victory going into Day 5.

                                                                      

Morkel didn’t last long on Day 5 as Swann trapped him LBW just in the 2^nd over of the day. Boucher’s resistance came to an end when he was caught down the leg side off Broad and Proteas were 8 down for 108, still needing another 123 runs to make England bat again.

Day 5: Boucher returns dejected 

After Harris’s cameo came to an end, Swann finished the game for England as he trapped Steyn LBW and South Africa were bowled out for 133. Swann returned with match figures of 9/164 and was adjudged the man of the match.

Scores:   

South Africa 343 & 133

England          574/9 d

England won by an innings & 98 runs.

Man of the match: G Swann

The series of 2009-10 and the series that awaits us has many similarities. The series presents a battle of equals even this time around. The Proteas don’t have the likes of Kallis, Smith and Boucher which certainly formed the core group of the team back then and so do England. England too don’t have the services of Pietersen, Strauss and Swann anymore, the names which definitely made English Cricket big during that era. Similar to 2009, England are visiting the rainbow nation on the back of a successful Ashes campaign and Proteas are going into the series with a series loss to India under their belt, similar to 2009, when they lost to Australia at home. Comparing the batting of these two sides, the batting units of both the teams basically look vulnerable. Both the teams are coming off from poor batting performances against spin. Turning our attention to bowling, bowling has always been the strength of these two sides and story this time is no different. Both the teams have a balanced bowling attack, especially suitable for pace-friendly wickets and a mouth-watering series awaits us. Both the teams are relatively inexperienced and considering the performances of both the opponents and form of the players in the recent past, England marginally start as favourites to win the series. From my perspective, Cook, Root, Finn, AB de Villiers, Morkel and Faf du Plessis are the players to watch out for.