Soft and vulnerable South Africa offer no positives in capitulation to England

Former Proteas captain Graeme Smith thought the tourists' defeat was never in doubt once openers Heino Kuhn and Dean Elgar were dismissed

A soft and vulnerable South African batting line-up capitulated to English spin (Getty)

A Test match to forget and move on from for the South Africans, beaten at Lord's for the first time in over 60 years. Their promising start in this game soon dissipated in the wake of some severely below par fielding and batting throughout the game.

On Sunday morning, England were undoubtedly in a position to dictate the terms on which the Test would be decided, and one tenuous positive to be taken from this game might be how South Africa fought back to put England in some danger of giving the tourists a sniff in the ensuing run chase.

However, England’s ascendency in the game allowed them to keep attacking South Africa and effectively put the game out of reach. Even before the partnership between the ever impressive Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood, I felt that South Africa would require something spectacular from a senior player to get anywhere close to a score of 260+.

Even so, few would have seen the batting display that we were treated to coming, from which even the most optimistic mind would struggle to extract any positives. The core of South Africa’s batting line up appeared soft and vulnerable without Du Plessis, as the captain was left to watch the capitulation from the boundary following his own practice ahead of Trent Bridge.

The batsmen were found wanting against the spin duo of Moeen Ali and Liam Dawson, whom after initial bursts from Anderson, Wood and Broad, bowled unchanged in helpful conditions for spin.

Ali’s man of the match winning performance was the stand out. The confirmation of a much improved player, seeing him have is name etched on to the Lords Honours board with ten wickets in the game to accompany his 1st Innings 87 with the bat.

It’s clear that the last twelve months have seen him mature as a player, and he’s come out of a tour of India, which can be a gruelling one for a spinner, with more confidence in his ability and a greater focus on the consistency you simply must possess to bowl at the top level.

His start in Test cricket was characterised by bowling that one bad ball an over which makes it hard for a captain to place trust in a bowler, which cast doubt over his long term credentials as a frontline Test spinner.

Here, Moeen bowled to attacking fields for long periods, offering ample opportunities for batsmen to pick gaps in the field if they were good enough to do so. His quality and consistency prevented South Africa’s batsmen from prospering, and along with Dawson he created a stranglehold on the innings from which there was to be no release.

There is always pressure on spinners in the 4th innings, especially when it’s turning square and misbehaving as much as it was today. Both Ali and Dawson dealt with it especially well, and Dawson will have been pleased to get in to the game after a pair and a disappointing 1st Innings with the ball.

The capitulation that Ali sparked is tough to defend. Jonny Bairstow, to my mind, showed how you had to play in order to prosper, taking any opportunity to score fully in the knowledge that you may not be far away from a ball with your name on it.

Having seen how the pitch was deteriorating, I was surprised to see an evident lack of any tangible game plan as to how South Africa were going to go about chasing the total, or at least start to combat the spinners.

It appeared as though only Temba Bavuma and Quinten De Kock had thought about their scoring options, looking to sweep or make the most of anything remotely short as often as they could. Bavuma swept well, whilst De Kock gave himself room, making Ali question his lengths momentarily.

Yes, England had some luck with certain dismissals, but they earned that luck through bowling extremely well. The most disappointing aspect of South Africa's defeat is that it never really looked in any doubt once the openers had departed. South Africa will have to rediscover their fight if they are to arrest the slide in Nottingham.

Huge congratulations to Moeen Ali and England’s new skipper Joe Root, who I’m sure will be just as surprised as to the ease with which victory arrived on day four as I am.