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England versus South Africa at Old Trafford Test in 1998
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Scorecard 2
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South Africa 1st innings: 552 for 5 declared
England 1st innings: 183
England 2nd innings:
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Knight
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c Boucher
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b Donald
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1
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Atherton
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c Ntini
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b Kallis
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89
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Hussain
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b Kallis
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5
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Stewart
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c Klusener
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b Donald
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164
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Ramprakash
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lbw
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b Donald
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34
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Thorpe
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b Donald
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0
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Cork
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b Adams
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1
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Croft
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not out
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37
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Giles
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c sub
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b Donald
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1
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Gough
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c Kirsten
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b Donald
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12
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Fraser
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not out
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0
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Extras
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5
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Total
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369 for 9
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Fall of wickets: 4, 11, 237, 293, 293, 296, 323, 329, 367
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Analysis
England were nearly bowled out twice
England had lost 9 of their 10 wickets in the second innings – in other words, they were one wicket away from being bowled out twice. By adding together England's totals, the significance of this becomes more obvious….
England's total for their two innings put them exactly level with South Africa's first innings of 552 declared.
In other words, this game must have been touch and go towards the end. Until England drew level, South Africa needed only one more wicket to win the match. In fact, the fall of wickets shows that England was 8 down for 329 – still 40 runs short of South Africa's total.
England's tailenders don't have a reputation for hanging around, but clearly on this occasion they did….
The ninth wicket (Gough) fell with the score tantalisingly at 367, which brought in Angus Fraser. If Fraser was now out, England would lose.
What the scorecard doesn't reveal is how frantic and nailbiting things got. There was furious calculation in the dressing rooms about how long England had to bat to survive. Although 7 overs of the day remained, there is a rule that two overs are deducted between innings. So when Croft levelled the scores the number of overs England needed to survive dropped by two. In fact, they managed to hold out for all five overs… just.
This game changed the course of the series, and demonstrated that even a draw can be nail-biting. Croft was the hero, but since he was in the side for his bowling (which hadn't been effective) he was dropped after this game. There's gratitude for you.
Incidentally, this England team was remarkably similar to the one that became the core of England's winning squad just two years later.
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