England wins thriller

Kirtley stars in 70-run victory over South Africa

NOTTINGHAM, England (Reuters) -- England won a dramatic third test against South Africa by 70 runs Monday, taking the last five wickets early on the final day to level the series at 1-1.

Debutant fast bowler James Kirtley was England's hero, completing figures of six for 34 on a deteriorating pitch to give Michael Vaughan his first victory as captain in his second match in charge. (Scores)

Kirtley, named man of the match, sealed the win by having Mark Boucher caught by wicketkeeper Alec Stewart for a defiant 52.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet, but I'm sure when we get back to the dressing room we'll see how important the win is," said Kirtley.

"I had to keep hitting it in the right areas and fortunately the wickets fell."

Vaughan said: "For James to bowl as well as he did on his debut was fantastic. It was a good a toss to win, but we exploited the conditions fantastically."

England amassed 445 in their first innings before a fine low-order performance allowed South Africa to score 362. England was dismissed for 118 in its second knock, leaving South Africa a target of 202 for victory.

South Africa resumed on 63 for five and Boucher and Neil McKenzie survived the first five overs from Andrew Flintoff and Kirtley without undue alarm.

Kirtley, named man of the match, struck first in the day's sixth over, bowling McKenzie for 11 with a ball that kept low.

Flintoff then bowled Shaun Pollock for a duck, the ball rising no more than a few inches off the Trent Bridge pitch before crashing into the all rounder's stumps.

Andrew Hall fell first ball when he slashed Kirtley high to Marcus Trescothick, who held a sharp catch to his right to leave South Africa reeling at 81 for eight.

Boucher and Paul Adams added 45 for the ninth wicket, frustrating England with a mixture of watchful defense and bold attacking strokes. Adams was badly dropped by Mark Butcher at second slip off Kirtley.

Boucher reached his fifty from 85 balls, batting for over two hours and hitting seven fours, but he lost Adams when the diminutive spinner spooned a simple return catch to Kirtley for 15.

Boucher then edged another Kirtley outswinger to Stewart, prompting wild celebrations among the England players, who will travel to Leeds in good heart for the fourth of five tests at Headingley starting Thursday.

Pollock will miss the fourth test to fly home and attend the birth of his first child.

Vaughan elated after first win as test captain

Michael Vaughan said he felt elated after sealing his first win as England test captain.

"We're all a bit elated but obviously I'm delighted to win the game," Vaughan told reporters. "It was crucial to get those five wickets to level the series. We will enjoy the moment but we realize it's still only 1-1."

Vaughan, who led England to an innings defeat in his first match in charge two weeks ago, thought that scoring 445 in its first innings was the key factor in England's triumph.

"To get runs on the board was crucial," he said. "It puts the opposition under pressure and then we were able to exploit the conditions."

Vaughan also paid tribute to the contribution of his predecessor as captain Nasser Hussain, who made 116 in England's first innings.

His innings answered the critics who had suggested he did not deserve a place in the team after standing down as skipper following the drawn first test.

"That's just Nasser for you," said Vaughan. "He fights really hard when people have a dig at him. He's had great input into the team and it was a really important innings for us."

Upbeat Smith taking positives from defeat

South Africa captain Graeme Smith was far from deflated after despite his side's defeat.

"England batted well on the first day and that's where they won the game," he told reporters. "It was a great test match and my boys showed immense character to take the match to five days. Lesser teams might have crumbled."

Smith was not surprised that England played so well following its heavy defeat in the last test at Lord's.

"We expected them to bounce back," Smith said. "Day one of the test is always important, the first morning sets the tone and England got a good batting performance."

Smith said his players were taking plenty of positives out of their performance.

"We are not too down on ourselves, we knew the wicket was difficult," he said. "We are just a bit irritated to lose the match but we have played some fantastic cricket in the series and dominated it until this test."

South Africa will be without its main fast bowler Shaun Pollock for the fourth test at Headingley starting Thursday because the all-rounder is returning home for the birth of his first child.

"We will miss Shaun, he is a world-class cricketer but it's up to others to take responsibility," he said. "It's a big week for us and now it's our turn to bounce back."

Scores

England first innings 445
(N.Hussain 116, M.Butcher 106, A.Stewart 72, E.Smith 64)
South Africa first innings 362
(N.McKenzie 90, S.Pollock 62; J.Anderson 5-102)
England second innings 118
(S.Pollock 6-39)

South Africa second innings (overnight 63-5)
 G.Smith lbw b Kirtley                   5
 H.Gibbs c Giles b Harmison             28
 J.Rudolph lbw b Kirtley                 0
 J.Kallis b Anderson                    13
 B.Dippenaar c Smith b Anderson          1
 N.McKenzie b Kirtley                   11
 M.Boucher c Stewart b Kirtley          52
 S.Pollock b Flintoff                    0
 A.Hall c Trescothick b Kirtley          0
 P.Adams c & b Kirtley                  15
 M.Ntini not out                         3
 Extras (lb-2 nb-1)                      3
 Total (all out, 56.2 overs)           131

Fall of wickets: 1-22 2-28 3-40 4-41 5-50
6-71 7-80 8-81 9-126

Bowling:
Kirtley 16.2-7-34-6,
Flintoff 17-4-54-1,
Harmison 11-2-24-1,
Anderson 12-4-17-2

Result: England won by 70 runs
First test: Edgbaston -- match drawn
Second test: Lord's -- South Africa won by an innings and 92 runs
Fourth test: August 21-25 - Headingley, Leeds
Fifth test: September 4-8 - The Oval, London.

 

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