Stuart Broad hailed a perfect day for England after his sensational six-wicket haul routed South Africa, setting up victory in the third Test in Johannesburg and a historic series win for Alastair Cook’s side.
Broad’s six for 17 after lunch demolished the hosts for 83 and the target of 74 was chased down for the loss of three wickets inside 23 overs with Joe Root, centurion in England’s first innings, hitting the winning runs.
“It’s a very special moment for the team,” said Broad, whose side go 2-0 up with one Test to play. “Winning in South Africa is certainly not an easy thing to come by. It’s something we’ve worked very hard for. We got a bit lucky with conditions today, the clouds came in and the lights came on. It was a really good time to bowl but you’ve still got to take your catches and create pressure. It was a perfect day for us.
Broad’s salvo, which included a spell of five wickets for one run, had shades of his Ashes-winning eight for 15 against Australia at Trent Bridge last summer – a performance he claimed would never be repeated.
Cook said he always believed the 29-year-old could produce another such surge, adding: “He’s still pretty young and fresh and I could tell from the look in his eyes this morning. To come here and beat South Africa is a huge achievement for the lads, they can be very proud.”
Cook’s South African counterpart, AB de Villiers, whose side bowled out England for 323 in their first innings only to see his batsmen collapse spectacularly, said: “I haven’t seen a team bowl like that for a long time. We were outplayed in the second innings – credit to them.(Ali Martin)
Link: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jan/16/stuard-broad-england-six-wicket-haul-south-africa-ab-de-villiers
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