OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Sunday 9.00pm.
SOUTH Africa completed their tenth consecutive home Test win when they beat England by an innings and 21 runs on the fourth day of the first Test at the Wanderers on Sunday.
Shaun Pollock took the last two wickets to finish with four for 64. Pollock, with match figures of eight for 80, and fellow fast bowler Allan Donald, who took 11 for 127, were the heroes of South Africas first innings victory over their oldest Test rivals.
It was the 116th match between the countries.
Andrew Caddick delayed South Africas win by hitting 48, his highest Test score, scoring 44 off 53 balls on Sunday.
England had started the day in a hopeless position at 188 for seven, still 93 runs short of avoiding an innings defeat. Led by Caddick, they added 72 runs in quick time before going down.
It was South Africa’s 11th Test without defeat in all matches, a record for the country and their third successive innings win, following two against Zimbabwe.
South Africa opened the bowling on Sunday with Donald and Pollock, who had taken all 17 wickets to that stage.
Caddick batted aggressively, however, and Donald was taken off after conceding 16 runs in two overs.
Leftarm spinner Paul Adams replaced Donald and Caddick hit the spinner for a six. But Adams had Andrew Flintoff, who with Caddick had put on 52 for the eighth wicket, caught and bowled for 36 in the eighth over of the day to break the Donald-Pollock strangehold on wickets.
Donald and Pollock resumed the attack when the new ball became due after 54 runs had been scored in 13 overs.
Caddick endured a torrid over from Donald before edging Pollock over the slips for a boundary to register his highest Test score but was bowled next ball off an inside edge. Alan Mullally lasted just two balls before edging Pollock to second slip.