South Africa’s ‘Fast & Furious’ bowling attack thrashed the England cricket team on their home turf and turned down the hype of the ‘Bazball’ effect.
What is Bazball?
Bazball refers to England team’s attacking batting approach under the guidance of their head coach Brendon McCullum. It came from the coach’s nickname ‘Baz’.
England’s Bazball effect got the cricket fraternity’s attention when they chased down a mammoth target of 378 runs in the 4th innings of the 5th test against India at Edgbaston.
In the era of T20 format, Test Cricket is finding new ways to entertain cricket fans and Bazzball approach is one of them.
But this time England’s red-ball captain Ben Stokes got the heavy dose of his own medicine after facing a heavy defeat against #ProteaFire.
Classy bowling by South Africans rattled English batters in both the innings of the first test and secured team’s position on top the World Test Championship points table.
Proteas won the match by an innings and 12 runs and took 1-0 lead in the three-match test series.
Bowlers bowled skillfully under pressure and helped the team to wrap up the match in just six sessions.
South African batters should be thankful to their bowlers as they did not get the chance to bat in the fourth innings.
“This game ended quickly. We thought they would fight back hard. The boys did a great job. I’ve got a good coaching staff and a very good think-tank behind me to make those decisions”, quoted Dean Elgar (South Africa’s test captain).
Indian former cricketer Wasim Jaffer, who is also known for his witty responses, also took a jibe at the English Bazzball approach in Test cricket. He said,
“Bazball has done wonders in the fourth inns”
SA: There will be no fourth inns. #ENGvSA
Match Summary:
England 165 (First Innings)
Ollie Pope 73 (102)
Ben Stokes 20 (30)
Kagiso Rabada 19-3-52-5
Anrich Nortje 13-2-63-3
South Africa 326 (Second Innings)
Sarel Erwee 73 (146)
Marco Jansen 48 (79)
Stuart Broad 19.1-3-71-3
Ben Stokes 18-3-71-3
England 149 (Third Innings)
Alex Lees 35 (83)
Stuart Broad 35 (29)
Anrich Nortje 7-1-47-3
Kagiso Rabada 8-2-27-2
South Africa won by an innings and 12 runs
Man-of-the-Match:
Kagiso Rabada
Both the teams will square up again at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester on August 25, Monday.
England will have to win the second test to stay alive in the series and Proteas will be looking forward to sealing the series 2-0.
Let’s see who wins the battle.
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