South Africa vs England
First Test Match, Johannesburg (31 Dec 2019- 4 Jan 2020)
Lineups:
On a pitch that was, quite frankly, doing things for quicks, South Africa brought in a fourth in Glenton Stuurman and picked Bjorn Fortuin to make his debut as the main spinner. This may leave them slightly weak batting wise, with no Verreynne debut yet, but it's a decent call. Meanwhile, England have omitted all their spinners and picked five quicks. Let's see whether that's the right call too. Also a debut for Sam Hain.
South Africa's captain Faf du Plessis chose to bowl after winning the toss. Neither opening bowler got the breakthrough but it took five deliveries for Philander, operating at first change, to remove Burns. Glenton Stuurman then came on and took the wicket of Bairstow with his second delivery in Tests, flicking to square leg. The rest of their spell was much less successful but Bjorn Fortuin was another debutant to suceed early, trapping Root in front in his second over. The game was evenly poised at this point, but Sam Hain turned that around. By attacking the bowlers, particularily Fortuin, he got the score moving. He lost his partner Jennings, bowled by the spinner for 73, halfway through the middle session, and then Ben Stokes edging Philander just into the evening, but he brought up a brilliant debut hundred from 130 balls. This was finally ended with the second new ball by Ngidi, before him and Rabada reduced England to their last wicket. Mark Wood fought to score 48 but England fell just short of 400.
South Africa started steady, then Dean Elgar ran himself out for 22. When Van der Dussen failed too, South Africa were 2/51 and under the pump. Janneman Malan and de Kock both got starts that they didn't carry on with and when Du Plessis was dismissed LBW to Broad, South Africa were into the all rounders and down 241 runs still. Enter debutant number two, Bjorn Fortuin. He put on 100 runs with Aiden Markram, ended when Markram flicked a Anderson moonball to mid wicket, but missed his hundred when he was LBW Stokes for 87. Thanks to some hitting from Philander, South Africa finished only 53 runs in arrears.
This time the opening pair for South Africa did the job, Rory Burns being bowled by Ngidi for his second 9 of the match. After a fifty run partnership, Stuurman jagged the wicket of Jennings for 30. This infuriated Bairstow so much he literally hit Fortuin and Ngidi out of the attack. Rabada and Philander were much better, Rabada grabbing Root for 36 and Philander bowling Hain for 7. Bairstow reached his hundred late on Day 3, and while Stokes fell early on Day 4, followed promptly by Pope and Curran, Wood stuck around long enough to see him bring up his double ton just after lunch. Frustratingly for England this double would be the end of the series for him as a Stuurman bouncer struck him flush on the helmet, causing what seemed to be a nasty concussion. Anderson lasted three deliveries, but South Africa still had to survive four sessions or score 450 on a pitch with erratic bounce. Of note: England scored 396 in both their innings.
Janneman Malan's solution was to attack. He scored 54 of an 85 run partnership before Elgar nicked off. Unfortunately he couldn't keep going and was bowled for 65 by Broad, leaving SAF 2/99. A middle order that got starts but didn't carry on left South Africa in a similar position to the first innings; Bjorn Fortuin coming to the crease with 265 runs still needed. This time, he got a two ball duck. Du Plessis was batting time effectively, but he got a yorker from Curran that Brett Lee would have been proud of, and South Africa quickly folded. No points in a loss, remember.
First Test Match, Johannesburg (31 Dec 2019- 4 Jan 2020)
Lineups:
| South Africa: | England: |
 Janneman Malan | Rory Burns |
| Dean Elgar | Keaton Jennings |
| Rassie van der Dussen | Jonny Bairstow |
| Faf du Plessis | Joe Root |
| Quinton de Kock | Sam Hain |
| Aiden Markram | Ben Stokes |
| Bjorn Fortuin | Ollie Pope |
| Vernon Philander | Sam Curran |
| Glenton Stuurman | Stuart Broad |
| Kagiso Rabada | Mark Wood |
| Lungi Ngidi | Jimmy Anderson |
On a pitch that was, quite frankly, doing things for quicks, South Africa brought in a fourth in Glenton Stuurman and picked Bjorn Fortuin to make his debut as the main spinner. This may leave them slightly weak batting wise, with no Verreynne debut yet, but it's a decent call. Meanwhile, England have omitted all their spinners and picked five quicks. Let's see whether that's the right call too. Also a debut for Sam Hain.
South Africa's captain Faf du Plessis chose to bowl after winning the toss. Neither opening bowler got the breakthrough but it took five deliveries for Philander, operating at first change, to remove Burns. Glenton Stuurman then came on and took the wicket of Bairstow with his second delivery in Tests, flicking to square leg. The rest of their spell was much less successful but Bjorn Fortuin was another debutant to suceed early, trapping Root in front in his second over. The game was evenly poised at this point, but Sam Hain turned that around. By attacking the bowlers, particularily Fortuin, he got the score moving. He lost his partner Jennings, bowled by the spinner for 73, halfway through the middle session, and then Ben Stokes edging Philander just into the evening, but he brought up a brilliant debut hundred from 130 balls. This was finally ended with the second new ball by Ngidi, before him and Rabada reduced England to their last wicket. Mark Wood fought to score 48 but England fell just short of 400.
South Africa started steady, then Dean Elgar ran himself out for 22. When Van der Dussen failed too, South Africa were 2/51 and under the pump. Janneman Malan and de Kock both got starts that they didn't carry on with and when Du Plessis was dismissed LBW to Broad, South Africa were into the all rounders and down 241 runs still. Enter debutant number two, Bjorn Fortuin. He put on 100 runs with Aiden Markram, ended when Markram flicked a Anderson moonball to mid wicket, but missed his hundred when he was LBW Stokes for 87. Thanks to some hitting from Philander, South Africa finished only 53 runs in arrears.
This time the opening pair for South Africa did the job, Rory Burns being bowled by Ngidi for his second 9 of the match. After a fifty run partnership, Stuurman jagged the wicket of Jennings for 30. This infuriated Bairstow so much he literally hit Fortuin and Ngidi out of the attack. Rabada and Philander were much better, Rabada grabbing Root for 36 and Philander bowling Hain for 7. Bairstow reached his hundred late on Day 3, and while Stokes fell early on Day 4, followed promptly by Pope and Curran, Wood stuck around long enough to see him bring up his double ton just after lunch. Frustratingly for England this double would be the end of the series for him as a Stuurman bouncer struck him flush on the helmet, causing what seemed to be a nasty concussion. Anderson lasted three deliveries, but South Africa still had to survive four sessions or score 450 on a pitch with erratic bounce. Of note: England scored 396 in both their innings.
Janneman Malan's solution was to attack. He scored 54 of an 85 run partnership before Elgar nicked off. Unfortunately he couldn't keep going and was bowled for 65 by Broad, leaving SAF 2/99. A middle order that got starts but didn't carry on left South Africa in a similar position to the first innings; Bjorn Fortuin coming to the crease with 265 runs still needed. This time, he got a two ball duck. Du Plessis was batting time effectively, but he got a yorker from Curran that Brett Lee would have been proud of, and South Africa quickly folded. No points in a loss, remember.
