England vs South Africa, 3rd Test Match Summary

That's it then from the series as Ben Stokes is presented with the series trophy and the entire England squad joins him for a team photograph. It is also the end of the English summer as well as far as international cricket is concerned. Both teams now move on to new ventures before heading into the T20 World Cup a month or so later. England travel to Pakistan to play a 7-match T20I series starting the 20th of September. As for the Proteas, they will head home and then to India for a white-ball series that will begin on the 28th of September. Join us for all the action from those series. Until next time, take care and goodbye!

English skipper, Ben Stokes is the ENGLISH PLAYER OF THE SERIES for his brilliant all-round show. He says that it has been a great series where they didn't have any particular single individual performing but it was a team performance. Further says that the conditions they found out on Day 1 after the toss and they were better on the 3rd day and toss plays a major role. Adds that when you have got bowlers like James Anderson and Stuart Broad it's great that they can have small spells and stay fresh and they have been absolutely phenomenal. Adds that if they are winning six of seven games because of their aggressive gameplay, then they don't mind playing that way. Adds that they are clearly giving the message the way they are going to play and the coach also supports them. Their main moto was to find the result in the last match. Further, says it's very important to give proper time to payers like Ollie Pope and it shows how important it is to let them play their game. Mentions that the opening batters give a good momentum and that eases pressure on the lower order. James Anderson is also a player they can rely on and he is always up for the challenge. Adds that Joe Root should also be given credit for how he had kept the team for 6 years and for that he is very grateful and each captain has his own style. Ends by saying that it will be challenging to play against Pakistan and more spin will come into play but they are up for it.

Dean Elgar, the skipper of South Africa is down for a chat. He says that it hasn't been great for him in an international game in Oval. Informs that first innings runs are very important in England and they failed to get those. Mentions they just tried to utilize the bench strength. Adds they were put in very tough conditions in a tough match but they will surely take a lot of learnings from it. Mentions if you apply yourself as a batter, it would get easy for sure but it also relies on the execution of the plans. Says that he is an advocate when it comes to Test matches. "More the merrier", he says. He thinks that England played excellent cricket and added pressure by putting enough runs on the board.

Kagiso Rabada is the SOUTH AFRICAN PLAYER OF THE SERIES for picking up 14 wickets in the series, including a match-winning spell at Lord's. He says that they won the toss at Lord's and the toss proved to be crucial in all three games. Further, says that they are a young side including himself and will learn a lot of things and take this as a lesson. Adds that was he injured during a T20 match earlier in the series but recovered well and played the Test series. Further, says that leading the bowling with young guns is always a pleasure and ends by saying that one could feel good in the nets but not the same on the field but what matters is to find to perform regardless of how one feels.

Ollie Robinson (7 for 89) is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his exceptional spell with the ball. He says that it has been a really enjoyable comeback for him and the team over the summer. Adds that he doesn't feel like he is an finished article by any means, he still has a long way to go and will keep improving. Says they are thriving under the leadership of Stokes and it feels really nice. Ends by saying he is really happy for his contribution.

As the English cricketing summer comes to an end, Jonny Bairstow has been declared as the 'PLAYER OF THE TEST SUMMER.'

The presentation ceremony...

Earlier in the game, Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bowl first but we did not have any cricketing action on the first couple of days of the Test match. Once play did resume on the morning of Day 3, Ollie Robinson ripped through the South African batting order as he picked up a five-wicket haul and Stuart Broad picked up four wickets as well. The South African batting order was in disarray as one of their frontline bowlers, Marco Jansen top-scored with 30 runs. The pitch had enough in it for the pacers and after a sedate start, the visiting team showed its prowess with the ball and Jansen was at the forefront of it all once again. He too picked up a five-fer and Kagiso Rabada managed to clean up the tail. With the game hanging right in the balance, the tide started to turn but once again the visitors were hard done by their inexperienced batters. The English pacers, once they got a sniff, did really well with skipper Ben Stokes picking up wickets at crucial stages of the game. In reply, England needed 130 runs to win and they chased it down with utmost ease. Stay tuned for the presentation...

South Africa were impressive in the white-ball phase of this tour and they continued that momentum as they won the first Test of this series with a big margin as well. It all went downhill in the second Test and the changes made for the final Test haven't proved to be effective at all. Their batting was a mess in the first innings and their bowlers didn't start off well either. Marco Jansen though looked good with the ball and gave them renewed hope in the first innings. The visitors did manage to keep the English lead to a minimum and had a fantastic start with the bat as well in the second innings. The turning point was probably Dean Elgar not opting to review an lbw decision when he was looking so good. After that, there was a collapse and their pacers didn't create enough opportunities in the final innings, which meant it was yet another defeat and from leading the series 1-0, they ended up losing it.

It was a bit of a topsy-turvy game with pacers from both teams dominating but it has been the batting from England that has made a bigger difference. It wasn't particularly impressive apart from Ollie Pope in the first innings but during the chase, both openers were able to just play their shots and get their team ahead in the game. Zak Crawley was mighty impressive as he scored a brilliant half-century and even though Alex Lees edged a few, he rode his luck and gave ample support to Crawley as well. Lees did get out towards the end but Ollie Pope came in and ensured that his side won the game at the earliest. It proved to be a straightforward chase in the end as the conditions had gotten brighter and the pitch didn't have enough bite in it.

What a grandstand finish we have had to a grandstand Test series! This wasn't what one would call a classic Test series but within less than 9 complete days of play, we have had results in all three games of the series. As expected it hasn't taken much time for the English batters to notch up the remaining 33 runs and they have sealed a memorable Test series win as they clinch the series 2-1. It has been a brilliant English summer from the point of view of Test cricket and they have finished off the home season with a deserving victory over the Proteas.

FOUR! Zak Crawley gets the winning runs here. It is a length ball, outside off. Zak Crawley hangs back and punches it through covers. It races away to the fence and England win by 9 wickets.

Fuller length, down the leg. Zak Crawley lets that one go through to the keeper.

Fuller, on middle and leg. Ollie Pope pushes it towards the square leg for a run.

Ollie Pope gets struck on the helmet and out comes the physio for a mandatory concussion check. Pope seems fine though which is a good thing. All is good now and the game can continue.

NO BALL! Zak Crawley tries something unorthodox! That was full, around off. Zak Crawley looks to switch hit it over slips but misses it and the ball hits his chin.

Good length, in the channel. Zak Crawley leaves it alone.

NO BALL AND FOUR! Zak Crawley is on fire. Incredible shot. It is a length ball, outside off. Zak Crawley crunches it through cover-point. It races away to the boundary. The umpire later signals a no ball as the bowler oversteps this time.

Rabada attacking the stumps yet again. Crawley is solid in his defence.

A length ball, on off, stump. Zak Crawley blocks it with full face.

Back of a length, on off. Pope hangs back and pulls it to deep square leg. The fielder in the deep sprints to his left and makes an exceptional stop. The batters take three.

NO BALL! Zak Crawley tries something new! That was full, on off. Zak Crawley tries to switch hits it over the slips but gets an upper edge and the ball hits his chin. Hopefully, he is ok.

A length ball, outside off, gets some bounce off the deck. Zak Crawley looks to chase it but decides against it later.

Fuller length, around middle and leg. Ollie Pope pushes it towards short square leg.

Short of length, around middle stump. Ollie Pope pulls it towards the square leg for a boundary.

Fuller length, outside off. Ollie Pope pushes it towards cover.

On a good length, on off. Ollie Pope blocks off the front foot.

Fuller length, outside off. Ollie Pope looks to play it towards cover but gets an inside edge and the ball goes towards square leg for a couple.

Fuller length, outside off. Ollie Pope lets that one go through to the keeper.

This is on a length, tailing into Pope. He comes down the track and flicks it to square leg to get off the mark here.