BASIL D'OLIVEIRA TROPHY ENGLAND WON THE SERIES 3-1
| 26-29 Dec | 1 South Africa 284 & 272 beat England 181 & 268 by 107 runs | Centurion |
| 03-07 Jan | 2 England 269 & 391-8d beat South Africa 223 & 248 by 189 runs | Cape Town |
| 16-20 Jan | 3 England 499-9d beat South Africa 209 & 237 by innings and 53 runs | Port Elizabeth |
| 24-27 Jan | 4 England 400 & 248 beat South Africa 183 & 274 by 191 runs | Johannesburg |
ENGLAND overcame a whole slew of early issues to complete a 3-1 series win over South Africa with victory in the fourth Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
Player of the match Mark Wood (9-100) returned the best overseas figures for an English seamer in almost 12 years as the tourists wrapped up a comfortable 191-run win inside four days.
Indeed, the relative ease of this victory - and the positive outcome of the Test tour as a whole - is a far cry from how the campaign began.
A viral illness spread like wildfire through the touring party ahead of and during the first Test at Centurion in what was a rare case of England having too many runs.
Meanwhile, talisman Ben Stokes was understandably unsettled by news on the eve of the Boxing Day match of his father Ged being taken to a Johannesburg hospital in a critical condition.
It was rather surprising then that, with everything going on, captain Joe Root opted to bowl first after winning the toss.
Sam Curran and Stuart Broad (both 4-58) did their best in restricting South Africa to 284 - but England were left well behind in the game when subsequently bowled out for 181.
Set a record 376 to win with the amazing chase at Headingley in the Ashes still fresh in the memory, England started well and were 139-1 at one stage.
But this chase ultimately proved the exceptionalism of the heist on that sunny day in Leeds as Root's men were all out for 268 to lose by 107 runs.
It meant that - excluding the series in 2018 against a severely weakened Sri Lanka team - England had lost nine of their previous 13 away Tests dating back to start of Root's tenure.
Somehow, matters got even worse ahead of the second Test when opener Rory Burns, ended his series prematurely by injuring his ankle while playing football in training.
The practice of playing football was banned on the following day - but the injury to the team's top scorer from Centurion meant such a move had not come before seemingly significant damage had already been done.
Bowling trio Jofra Archer, Jack Leach and Wood were also unavailable for the match in Cape Town so thankfully, this time, skipper Root opted to bat when again he won the toss.
England began tentatively, struggling to 269 - and looked set to concede another first innings deficit when South Africa reached 200-5.
But, after Curran accounted for the dangerous Rassie van der Dussen, England's record wicket-taker James Anderson added to his haul by cleaning up the tail for his 28th five-for in Tests.
South Africa had collapsed to 223 all out - and, rather than facing a deficit, the tourists bounded into their second innings with a lead of 46.
Warwickshire's 24-year-old batsmen Dom Sibley - opening in the absence of Burns with 21-year-old Zak Crawley - made 133 not out for his maiden Test century.
Sibley also found support from Root (61) and especially Stokes with the latter making 72 off just 47 balls.
It meant England were able to declare on 391-8 shortly after lunch on the fourth day - and, to Root's credit, the timing of the declaration would end up turning out to be an excellent use of judgement.
From this point onwards, the hosts never threatened to get anywhere near to their notional target of 438 - but, nonetheless, they dug in and scored at around just two runs-per-over to take the match beyond tea on the fifth day.
Shortly after the break, though, the Proteas' chance of rescuing the draw disappeared as they lost Quinton de Kock and van der Dussen in quick succession, before Stokes dealt with the tail.
It really should not be underestimated just how much heart and confidence was gained by skipper Root and his recovering team from their second Test declaration and triumph.
And, at the beginning of the third match in Port Elizabeth, each of the top four got themselves in before disappointingly getting out for scores between 25 and 44.
Consequently, the contest had reached an important early juncture at 148-4 when 22-year-old Ollie Pope joined Stokes at the crease.
But England need not have worried - the pair put on a massive 203 for the sixth wicket as Stokes scored his ninth Test century.
Even after his departure, young Pope found ample support lower down the order from Curran (44) and Wood (42) who ensured the Surrey man had enough time to make his own maiden Test ton.
Pope, indeed, was 135 not out when England declared on the fall of the ninth wicket with their score on 499.
Remarkably, in the South African response, England unearthed another gem as 22-year-old spinner Dom Bess ravaged the Proteas' top order.
Bess - who was not even part of the original touring party - in fact became the first English spinner to take the first five wickets in an innings since Derek Underwood against Australia in 1975.
Nevertheless, the poor weather in Port Elizabeth looked set to provide South Africa with a lifeline and made it inevitable that they would be asked to bat again if they could not make it beyond the follow-on target.
South Africa duly failed - and in rather spectacular fashion - as they lost their last four first innings wickets for a single run before then being reduced to 102-6 in their second innings, still a hopeless 188 runs behind.
Bizarrely, in their second knock, the main threat came from Root himself as he took four wickets with his occasional off-spin to ensure he would pick up his best Test figures.
The Proteas did survive into a fifth day - an argument, if any was really needed, against the push in some quarters for four-day Tests.
But it did not look as if their resistance would last for too long when Vernon Philander was out to Broad in the first over of the final day.
Kagisa Rabada and Anrich Nortje quickly followed - but, as Root strived for his first five-for in any First Class cricket, England temporarily lost their way completely against the final pair.
Thankfully, the weather overhead had cleared to leave England with plenty of time - and, after an incredibly entertaining stand of 99, Curran threw a direct hit from mid-on to run out Keshav Maharaj.
At 2-1, the series had inextricably moved in England's favour - and the visitors immediately hammered home their advantage in the fourth Test as Crawley (66) and Sibley (44) combined for a century opening stand.
The runs continued down the order with Root (59) and Pope (56) contributing again - and, even after South Africa had taken the ninth English wicket, their pain did not end.
Wood (35 not out) and Broad (43) enjoyed themselves in a record 10th-wicket stand at the Wanderers as England reached 400, and only no more than that because Broad skied a pull.
Next, Wood (5-46) starred with the ball as - except for a singular stand between De Kock and Dwaine Pretorius - South Africa struggled again with the bat.
At 183 all out, the Proteas had once more failed to make it beyond the follow-on target - but, on this occasion, with plenty of time left in the game, Root understandably opted to bat again.
England played fast and loose to pile up a target and still make the best use of the time remaining.
Indeed, such was the South Africans' form with the bat, the 248 runs put on the board in the second innings always looked sufficient to guarantee victory.
So it proved - although at least the hosts did not go down without a fight and their second innings total of 274 was their best effort since the very first innings of the series.
That, in itself, speaks volumes, however - and this sad farewell to fast-bowler Philander has left yet another hole in a side which is now in a complete state of flux.
Until this defeat, it had been 70 years since South Africa had lost two consecutive home series - while this was a fifth defeat in their last six home Tests.
Still, that should not take anything away from England who have had to overcome their own difficulties to produce this excellent comeback victory.
Youngsters Sibley, Crawley and Pope threaten to provide some much-needed stability to the England batting order - while this series has revealed a hitherto unseen depth to the bowling options.
No fewer than eight separate players - Root, Wood, Broad, Anderson, Stokes, Bess, Archer, and Curran - took at least four wickets in a single innings at some point in the series.
Meanwhile, six batsman - Pope (88.66), Sibley (54.00), Wood (47.50), Burns (46.50), Root (45.42), and Stokes (45.28) - averaged more than 40 across the whole campaign.
England may still be some way yet from gaining a reputation as a Test team to be feared at home and away - but this was undoubtedly a step in the right direction.
As a matter of fact, England have indeed moved up one place to third in both the Test rankings and the inaugural ICC World Test Championship behind India, the leaders, and Australia.
The tour to Sri Lanka in March before home series against West Indies and Pakistan appear to present Root's team with further opportunities to close the gap to the top two.
However, England simply cannot get too carried away.
Young teams often provide exuberance and inconsistency in almost equal measure - and the next step will be just as important as this one has been.
| Date | Tests | |
| Aug-Sep 2019 | (5) | ENGLAND 2-2 AUSTRALIA |
| Aug 2019 | (2) | SRI LANKA 1-1 NEW ZEALAND |
| Aug-Sep 2019 | (2) | WEST INDIES 0-2 INDIA |
| Oct 2019 | (3) | INDIA 3-0 SOUTH AFRICA |
| Oct 2019 | (2) | PAKISTAN 1-0 SRI LANKA |
| Nov-Dec 2019 | (2) | AUSTRALIA 2-0 PAKISTAN |
| Nov 2019 | (2) | INDIA 2-0 BANGLADESH |
| Dec-Jan 2020 | (3) | AUSTRALIA 3-0 NEW ZEALAND |
| Dec-Jan 2020 | (4) | SOUTH AFRICA 1-3 ENGLAND |
| Jan 2020 | (2) | PAKISTAN v BANGLADESH |
| Feb-Apr 2020 | (2) | BANGLADESH v AUSTRALIA |
| Feb-Mar 2020 | (2) | NEW ZEALAND v INDIA |
| Mar 2020 | (2) | SRI LANKA v ENGLAND |
| Jun 2020 | (3) | ENGLAND v WEST INDIES |
| Jul 2020 | (3) | ENGLAND v PAKISTAN |
| Jul 2020 | (2) | SRI LANKA v BANGLADESH |
| Jul 2020 | (2) | WEST INDIES v SOUTH AFRICA |
| Aug 2020 | (2) | BANGLADESH v NEW ZEALAND |
| Nov 2020 | (3) | NEW ZEALAND v WEST INDIES |
| Nov-Jan 2021 | (4) | AUSTRALIA v INDIA |
| Dec 2020 | (2) | NEW ZEALAND v PAKISTAN |
| Jan 2021 | (3) | BANGLADESH v WEST INDIES |
| Jan 2021 | (5) | INDIA v ENGLAND |
| Jan 2021 | (2) | PAKISTAN v SOUTH AFRICA |
| Jan 2021 | (2) | SOUTH AFRICA v SRI LANKA |
| Feb 2021 | (3) | SOUTH AFRICA v AUSTRALIA |
| Feb 2021 | (2) | WEST INDIES v SRI LANKA |
| Jun 2021 | (1) | FINAL |
| Pos | Series Won | Tests Won | Tests Drawn | Tests Lost | Points | Runs Per Wicket | Remain | |
| (1) | INDIA | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 360 | 2.897 | 360 |
| (2) | AUSTRALIA | 2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 296 | 1.604 | 360 |
| (3) | ENGLAND | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 146 | 1.068 | 480 |
| (4) | PAKISTAN | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 80 | 0.765 | 480 |
| (5) | SRI LANKA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 80 | 0.589 | 480 |
| (6) | NEW ZEALAND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 60 | 0.698 | 480 |
| (7) | SOUTH AFRICA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 24 | 0.521 | 480 |
| (8) | WEST INDIES | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.411 | 600 |
| (9) | BANGLADESH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.304 | 600 |
- Top two teams qualify for the Final at Lord's in June 2021.
- Teams on equal points are ranked by number of series won then Runs Per Wicket.
- Remain = points still yet to be played for
(2) 60 points for a Test win, 20 points each for a draw
(3) 40 points for a Test win, 13.3 points each for a draw
(4) 30 points for a Test win, 10 points each for a draw
(5) 24 points for a Test win, eight points each for a draw
NB A team that is behind the required over-rate at the end of a match will have two competition points deducted for each over it is behind
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