Man of the series: Ben Stokes (England)
| 26-30 Dec | 1ST England 303 & 326 beat South Africa 214 & 174 by 241 runs | Durban |
| 2-6 Jan | 2ND England 629-6d & 159-6 drew with South Africa 627-7d | Cape Town |
| 14-16 Jan | 3RD England 323 & 74-3 beat South Africa 313 & 83 by seven wickets | Johannesburg |
| 22-26 Jan | 4TH South Africa 475 & 248-5d beat England 342 & 101 by 280 runs | Centurion |
ENGLAND provided a highly disappointing denouement to an otherwise successful series in South Africa after being bowled out for 101 to lose the fourth Test by 280 runs.
Already 2-0 up heading into the final match, Alastair Cook's men showed a distinct lack of ruthlessness or character in going down to such a heavy defeat, the manner of which recalled their awful innings loss at the Oval in August against Australia.
Back then, the Ashes had likewise been won with a game to spare - although, in fairness to this touring squad, there were other more pleasant similarities to the summer success.
For instance, man of the series this time - Ben Stokes - carried on his general good form with bat and ball, and improved his Test average in both disciplines. Meanwhile, Stuart Broad produced another simply magical spell.
The highlight for Stokes, of course, was his 258 in the second Test in Cape Town, in which he hit 11 sixes and 30 fours, and for which he faced just 198 balls.
Statistically, it was the second-fastest double-hundred in Tests, beaten only by New Zealander Nathan Astle (153 balls) against England in Christchurch in 2002.
It was therefore the quickest double century by an England player and the highest score by an England batsman at number six or lower in the order.
Stokes' partnership of 399 with Jonny Bairstow was the second highest for England in all Tests, the highest ever in South Africa, and the highest sixth-wicket stand in Test history.
But, ultimately, the pair's efforts actually counted for little as a high-scoring draw ensued.
South Africa also performed well with the bat on a flat surface as Hashim Amla joined Stokes in reaching a double century and Temba Bavuma became the first black Proteas player to score a Test ton.
Subsequently, England briefly threatened to become the first ever team to score more than 600 runs in a first innings and contrive to lose as they wobbled on 116-6 on the final day.
Thankfully, though, Bairstow and Moeen Ali steadied the ship before the two skippers - Cook and Amla - shook hands, the latter for the final time as Test captain following his shock mid-series resignation.
So, while the second Test will simply go down in the record books as an inevitable draw, Amla's decision and the notable - and, in some cases, historic - achievements of players from both sides means this was no dull affair.
Still, enough about the stalemate - and now more about how the tourists claimed a first away Test series win anywhere since victory in India in 2012.
Well, the first Test in Durban - where England are unbeaten since 1928 - is not such an easy success to explain. There was no England centurion with the bat in either innings and none of the bowlers produced a fabled five-fer.
Nevertheless, Stuart Broad took 4-25 in the South African first innings and Steven Finn took 4-42 in the second as Cook's team claimed a comfortable 241-run win on the final day.
Remarkably, it was the first time England had won the opening Test of an away series since their victory over Bangladesh in Chittagong in March 2010.
And, truly, such occurrences are rare beasts as the time before that was in December 2004 against South Africa in Port Elizabeth.
The key to the other Test win, in the third match in Johannesburg, is rather easier to pinpoint as Broad produced another simply wonderful spell to add to his legendary 8-15 in the Ashes last summer.
This time, an even game with only 10 runs between the sides after the first innings, was turned on its head in a few balls by the Notts paceman.
In fact, Broad took 5-1 in just 31 balls on his way to overall figures of 6-17 as the Proteas were bundled out for a shell-shocked 83.
England knocked off the runs before the third day was over - and, with the series won, Broad could also celebrate being statistically recognised as the number one bowler in the world.
What has happened over the last five days in Centurion does not neatly follow the narrative - and this morning's loss of 7-43 was frankly pathetic, even if 20-year-old Kagiso Rabada was superb in taking match figures of 13-144.
Then again, the momentum in the Ashes summer similarly swung wildly between the teams - and so England, despite a fine series win, will remain dogged by the tag of inconsistency.
Nowhere perhaps is this clearer than in their catching. Sometimes excellent - particularly the efforts of James Taylor at short-leg - it is still all-too-often the first sign that England do not feel as if it is going to be their day.
The other major problem remains at the top of the order where Alex Hales has struggled. This was despite him becoming the eighth opening partner to Alastair Cook since he lost his predecessor as captain, Andrew Strauss in 2012.
For the record, the previous seven men were Ali, Adam Lyth, Jonathan Trott, Sam Robson, Michael Carberry, Joe Root and Nick Compton - with the latter two batting at three and four in this series.
Simply put - until England can consistently see off the new ball, then they will remain susceptible to collapse and shoddy, inconsistent results.
And, while that may sound too simplistic, there are clearly no easy solutions.
Stick with Hales? Promote Compton back up the order? Bring in yet another new man like James Vince? None of these options looks overly appealing.
At least the two home series against Sri Lanka and India - both notoriously poor travellers - offer a chance to make progress on this issue.
In the meantime, England face the Proteas in five One-Day Internationals and two Twenty20 matches ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup in India in March.
CENTURIES
258 Ben Stokes (England) in the second Test, Cape Town
201 Hashim Amla (South Africa) in the second Test, Cape Town
150 Jonny Bairstow (England) in the second Test, Cape Town
129* Quinton de Kock (South Africa) in the fourth Test, Centurion
118* Dean Elgar (South Africa) in the first Test, Durban
115 Stephen Cook (South Africa) in the fourth Test, Centurion
110 Joe Root (England) in the third Test, Johannesburg
109 Hashim Amla (South Africa) in the fourth Test, Centurion
102* Temba Bavuma (South Africa) in the second Test, Cape Town
TOP RUN SCORERS
470 Hashim Amla (South Africa)
411 Ben Stokes (England)
386 Joe Root (England)
359 Jonny Bairstow (England)
284 Dean Elgar (South Africa)
248 Temba Bavuma (South Africa)
245 Nick Compton (England)
210 AB de Villiers (South Africa)
BEST BATTING AVERAGES
143.00 Quinton de Kock (South Africa)
71.80 Jonny Bairstow (England)
70.00 Stephen Cook (South Africa)*
67.14 Hashim Amla (South Africa)
58.71 Ben Stokes (England)
55.14 Joe Root (England)
49.60 Temba Bavuma (South Africa)
47.33 Dean Elgar (South Africa)
32.66 Chris Morris (South Africa)
30.62 Nick Compton (England)
30.00 AB de Villiers (South Africa)
29.00 Moeen Ali (England)
FIVE-WICKET HAULS
7-112 Kagiso Rabada (South Africa) in the fourth Test, Centurion
6-17 Stuart Broad (England) in the third Test, Johannesburg
6-32 Kagiso Rabada (South Africa) in the fourth Test, Centurion
5-78 Kagiso Rabada (South Africa) in the third Test, Johannesburg
5-153 Dane Piedt (South Africa) in the first Test, Durban
TOP WICKET TAKERS
22 Kagiso Rabada (South Africa)
18 Stuart Broad (England)
15 Morne Morkel (South Africa)
12 Ben Stokes (England)
11 Steven Finn (England)
10 Dane Piedt (South Africa), Moeen Ali (England)
BEST BOWLING AVERAGES
20.00 Dale Steyn (South Africa)*
20.61 Stuart Broad (England)
21.90 Kagiso Rabada (South Africa)
23.00 Stiaan van Zyl (South Africa)
26.09 Steven Finn (England)
28.00 JP Duminy (South Africa)
29.16 Ben Stokes (England)
29.73 Morne Morkel (South Africa)
*played one match only
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