England vs South Africa 2017: 5 positives for England from the Manchester Test
England’s home Test series against South Africa presented the hosts with several moments to cherish. They lost the second Test at Nottingham by a massive margin of 340 runs, which could easily have dented the England team’s morale.
Nevertheless, they staged a stupendous comeback to win back to back matches and clinch the series by a margin of 3-1. In the final Test at Manchester, South Africa played their hearts out, but Joe Root’s men turned out to be insurmountable as they went on to humble the Proteas by 177 runs.
As the curtains come down on the one-sided, yet enthralling Test series, we take an insight into the positives England can draw from their final victory of the series.
#5 Partnerships down the order
Tough situations are pretty common for any team, but it’s the champion sides that weather every storm and stage a comeback. In the fourth Test, England were in more than a spot of both of bother during their first innings with the bat.
England were staring down the barrel with the score at 187/5. However, the lower-order came to the team’s rescue and added crucial runs, which lifted their team up to a respectable first innings total of 362. It was the partnership of 63 runs between Jonathan Bairstow and Ben Stokes that started the resurrection.
Extra cover: 5 best batting knocks from England - South Africa Series
After Stokes’ dismissal, Bairstow took the onus upon himself and along with the tail, he shepherded England to safer shores. Bairstow was unlucky though not to reach his century, falling for 99 runs to Keshav Maharaj.