Praise for Morne, Boucher as South Africa Retain Basil D'Olivera Trophy by betaing England

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It was clockwork as far as Graeme Smith was concerned as the hosts polished off England on the fourth day of the fourth and final Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg to retain the Basil D'Olivera Trophy they won back in 2008 in England.

andrew strauss graeme smith with basil dolivera tr
andrew strauss graeme smith with basil dolivera tr

South Africa needed seven wickets on the morning of the fourth day's play to square the four Test series 1-1 and therefore, retain the trophy and the no.2 rank in the ICC Test rankings.

dale steyn morne morkel
dale steyn morne morkel

They did so handsomely as Morne Morkel picked up three wickets on the day to bring his innings tally to four, while JP Duminy chipped in with two wickets. Wayne Parnell and Dale Steyn also had two wickets each for the innings as South Africa wrapped up the match by tea with a win by an innings and seventy-four runs, England bowled out for 169 even as Paul Collingwood batted with a painfully dislocated finger for seventy-runs in vain.

graeme smith praises mark boucher
graeme smith praises mark boucher

For Smith, it was wicketkeeper-batsman, Mark Boucher, who is only the second in that category to cross 5000 Test runs, following Australia's Adam Gilchrist, scoring 95 runs in the first innings and the comeback of the young Morne Morkel that have made him rather proud, especially so in this Test, the captain's own century notwithstanding.

graeme smith thanks crowds
graeme smith thanks crowds

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