They finally have something to cheer about. England did get one win under the belt. Most importantly they did under the brash new captain Kevin Pietersen. Graeme Smith and his men though seemed to have had enough time to prepare for this eventuality. They looked far from upset sad as they gleefully picked up the Basil D’Oliviera Trophy.
The dead rubber was anything but dead. South Africa perhaps needed a bit of a needle after sealing the series dramatically at Edgbaston. They had it in one of their (former) own leading the England team. There was plenty to look forward to for England fans and those in the inner circles after the change of guard completed a week of sorrow for England’s cricket.
But the Oval Test could have easily been brushed off as a lapse from the South Africa satiated from their enthralling (not to mention, exhausting) victory at Edgbaston. Steve Waugh previously spoke of Australia suffering from a case of low intensity in the event of playing a dead rubber. If South Africa were suffering from the same, it was hard to tell. What was perceptible though is that despite their trying to get back into the match, it was hard at the level expected of a team winning the series.
Rain on the evening of the fourth day meant a scintillating day to look forward to. South Africa did not exactly set a dynamite of a target with 147. But it seemed enough to make a contest of it or so it seemed. South Africa after all have shown wherewithal in previous series and in patches in this series. There was also a the random possibility of rain but this was one day the weatherman in England would have been glad to have missed his mark, and none would hold him to his job in any other scenario.
The day began with South Africa bowling a mediocre line and length that while teasing was not temptation enough for the determined England openers. While Alastair Cook has been in fairly decent touch in this series, Andrew Strauss was under fire for his practically no-show in this series and his personal image set back by the missed opportunity to be named skipper of the England Test team. His lack of performance would have further put his England Test position in doubt amidst much speculation and could have spelt disaster for him, already out of the reckoning in the one day squad as well as the Twenty20 team.
The openers collectively played an important role. They did not allow South Africa an opportunity to peek into a probably victory during any time of the innings. Their partnership of 123 was colossal not only from the point of view of an opening partnership but also, in the context of the chase. Not only did it drastically reduce the number of runs the rest of the England batsmen have to chase, it also ensured that South Africa would resign themselves to the fact that this was one Test of four on this tour that they could do nothing to swing it their way.
Even when the wickets came, Strauss has done enough to ensure a look in the next time England play a Test, which is eons later. Cook scripted another half century and England could not really lose their Test, not unless they played incredibly awful to lose it from this position. South Africa, on their part, were perhaps cushioned by the blow by the fact that they had already nailed the trophy and the rain overnight gave them enough time for commiserations. There are few times when defeat feels not much less than an ordinary day. India would have surely liked to taste it too on another disastrous day that ended the Test tour, perhaps even to Sri Lanka again potentially for the aging five.
It was a day when both Kevin Pietersen and Graeme Smith were happy. For Smith and South Africa, it was an achievement of another goal for the year. For Pietersen, he has won the country over, won the Test he has taken over and ensures that despite the dreariness that stayed while Michael Vaughan was captaining on this tour, England cricket still has hope for the next.
