England outclass South Africa by 241 runs in 1st Test

England defeated the world no 1 side South Africa by a huge margin of 241 runs in the first Test match of the series on Wednesday. 

England had set a target of 416 runs, which was always going to be difficult for the Proteas to chase down on a tricky wicket. 

Moeen Ali was adjudged the man of the match for his superb spell of spin for the visitors. The talented England all-rounder picked up seven wickets in the match. 

South Africa resumed their chase at 136 for the loss of four wickets at the start of Day 5. But their hopes were crushed as Ali scalped the crucial wicket of AB de Villiers with the third ball of the first over of Day 5. The rest of the Proteas' batting line up crumbled like a house of cards after that. 

Steven Finn struck in the last over of Day 4 when he removed Faf du Plessis, who was looking to build yet another gritty partnership with de Villiers, like they have done before. But that did not happen in this Test match as the England bowlers were right on the money from the start. 

Brief Scores:

England 303 (Nick Compton 85, James Taylor 70, Jonny Bairstow 41; Morne Morkel 4 for 75, Dale Steyn 4 for 70) & 275 for 7 ( Nick Compton 49,Joe Root 72, Jonny Bairstow 79; Dane Piedt 5 for 133, Stiaan van Zyl 3 for 20) beat South Africa 214(Dean Elgar 118*, AB de Villiers 49, Dale Steyn 16; Stuart Broad 4 for 25, Moeen Ali 4 for 69) & 155 for 9 (Stiaan van Zyl 33, Dean Elgar 40, AB de Villiers 37; Steven Finn 4 for 28,Moeen Ali 3 for 43 ) by 280 runs.