London, September 12: England knocked off the final runs to seal a nine-wicket victory against South Africa in the third Test at The Oval, giving them a 2-1 series win.
There was frustration from players and fans on Sunday as bad light stopped play with the hosts just 33 runs shy of their target, but it took just 5.3 overs to finish things off on Monday (September 12).
There had been concerns as to whether a result would be possible in the deciding Test of the series after the first day was washed out by rain, and the second was postponed after the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
However, with both teams' first innings lasting just 36.2 overs each, the Test match raced along and after dismissing the tourists in their second innings for 169 on Sunday, England earned themselves a modest target of 130 to win.
We win the last Test by 9 wickets and claim a 2-1 series victory. pic.twitter.com/oH45xTIUf2
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 12, 2022
Alex Lees and Zak Crawley wasted no time in racing towards that total, with England finishing Sunday on 97-0 from just 17 overs.
The former then edged a Kagiso Rabada delivery in the first over when play resumed on Monday, but was somehow dropped by wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne.
Lees did not last much longer though as Rabada trapped him lbw for 39, though it took a review from Dean Elgar to get the opener off the field.
There was no more damage to England's batting though as Ollie Pope (11 not out) came in and helped Crawley (69no) to finish off the run chase, giving the in-form hosts a sixth win from their last seven Test matches.