However, South Africa need not be too concerned about not being able to win the opening contest. I checked the stats and found that South Africa are not necessarily the fastest out of the blocks in this particular fixture (at home against England). They have won the first test at home against England only 5 out of 17 (including the recently concluded test) attempts. Thats a probability of about 30%.
The result, on the other hand, a bit of a surprise. Its the first time in 71 years that a first test of a series in South Africa has ended in a draw with no play lost due to weather.
England in South Africa - Tough encounters
This has proved to be quite a competitive series. Since South Africa's re-admission to test cricket, they have battled England in 3 test series, winning 2 of them and losing the most recent one. However, when i was going through the series history, i came across an incredible series that deserves mention.
The mother of all come-backs
The 1956-57 series between South Africa and England will probably go down in history as the comeback to beat all comebacks. I can't recall a team ever coming back from a 2 test deficit to win a series. With the tendency of teams today to protect series leads by playing out draws and fewer 5 test series being on display, we might not get to see it anytime soon.
However, this series did have some incredible results. England won the first 2 tests as convincingly as imaginable (by 131 runs and then by 312 runs). The 3rd test was close but ended as an exciting draw (South Africa, chasing 190 to win, ended day 5 at 142 for 6, being reduced to 42 for 4 at one stage.
South Africa mounted an enormous comeback, winning the next 2 tests to tie the series at 2-a-piece, albeit under questionable circumstances, with the condition of the pitch causing a lot of debate.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
the auto reminder did not work...
ReplyDelete