South Africa and England made history yesterday by contriving a result from the final Test for the first time ever at Centurion Park. It is the only time the feat has been achieved in 123 years of Test cricket spanning 1,483 Tests. Below is how the unique event unfolded to enable England to claim a memorable two-wicket victory.
The ground is declared fit to play after the previous three days were washed out, leaving South Africa on 155 for six in their first innings. South African captain Hansie Cronje approaches England counterpart Nasser Hussain about trying to force a result by agreeing on a victory target. Hussain rejects the offer of 255 in 73 overs because he is unsure about how the pitch will play after three days under the covers and is wary of chasing a big total on an unpredictable wicket.
The wicket proves flat and England struggle to make inroads, prompting Hussain to leave the pitch after half an hour's play to determine whether Cronje's offer was still available and also to check the law regarding forfeiture of innings.
Law 14.2 states "a captain may forfeit his second innings" but makes no reference to the first innings, while law 14.1 reveals "the captain of the batting side may declare an innings closed at any time during the match" but does not require a team to start an innings before declaring.
Match referee Barry Jarman becomes involved in the discussions over the ambiguous wording of the laws and informs Cronje that he is happy the unique suggestion was within "the spirit of the game".
South Africa declare on 248 for eight and England declare their first innings without entering the field of play. South Africa follows suit by forfeiting their second innings.
England win by two wickets after reaching 251 for eight with just five balls to spare in a thrilling finish.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)