SA beat England in first test by 12 runs
London. South Africa on Monday beat England by an innings and 12 runs in the first test on the three match series at Oval.
Hashim Amla’s unbeaten 311, veteran allrounder Jacques kallis’s 182 and Captain Greame Smith’s 131 has help SA to reach 637 for 2 before they declared, setting England a target of 252 to make them bat again.
But with the hosts resuming on 102 for four, England were always facing an uphill battle to save the game and despite some resistance from Ian Bell (55) and Matt Prior (40), saving the task ultimately proved impossible.
England, however, had managed to survive the first session virtually unscathed, moving to 177 for five at lunch, with the only wicket to fall that of Ravi Bopara, who was bowled off an inside edge by Dale Steyn for 22 in the seventh over.
The victory is South Africa’s first in 11 matches at the Oval and they had previously lost all three Tests at the south London venue since returning to international cricket in 1991.
The last time the two teams met in England in 2008, South Africa edged the hos ts 2-1 but England have been unbeaten at home since then, rising to No.1 in the world rankings under captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower.
South Africa, though, have not lost an away series since they were beaten in Sri Lanka in 2006. They are currently ranked third but will take the top place from England if they win the series.
The win was only the fifth time a team had won a Test match losing only two wickets.
