JOHANNESBURG // Fittingly, it was England's two tormentors who finished the series arm-in-arm, receiving the joint man-of-the-match award.
Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel had bowled the home side to the brink of victory in the last Test in Cape Town only to be thwarted by Graham Onions. There was, however, no stopping them yesterday to ensure South Africa retained the Basil D'Oliveira Trophy.
Steyn picked up one more wicket yesterday and Morkel collected three, to finish with seven each in the match, as South Africa wrapped up a crushing victory of an innings and 74 runs by bowling England out for 169.
Only Paul Collingwood (71) saved England from an even heavier defeat. Mark Boucher, the Proteas wicketkeeper, led the tributes to his side's new-ball pairing. "I'd rather be catching to them than facing them," he said.
"They are still very young and need to do a lot of learning but will learn very quickly because they are those sort of guys. They have the potential to be up with the best that have ever played the game."
Morkel and Steyn finished the series with 19 and 15 wickets respectively, prompting their captain, Graeme Smith, to claim the in-form pair's achievement was one of the decisive factors in his side's series fightback.
"Dale's performed unbelievably well for a period of time now and deserves his ranking," he said.
"He's led the attack well but Morne, coming back from being left out of the side, has worked on his game and come back a far better bowler. He was really able to have a good series. To have two good spearheads of pace and bounce is great on a wicket like this."
There was certainly no back-patting in the England camp. Andrew Strauss, the England captain, was furious with the way his side batted in both innings.
Kevin Pietersen (12) and Matt Prior, for a duck, once again fell cheaply yesterday and along with Jonathan Trott and Strauss, himself, will need to re-assess their games after disappointing tours.
"Only three batsmen had a decent series," admitted Strauss referring to Alaistar Cook, Collingwood and Ian Bell.
"The rest of us didn't and you're not going to win a series if that's the case. I don't doubt the quality in our batting line up but not enough of us could prove it."
South Africa needed just one session yesterday to complete the job but England had actually started the day well, with Collingwood pouncing on anything short as Morkel and Steyn were unable to get the early wicket. But that proved be a false dawn as Pietersen ended his fallow tour with yet another loose shot, handing Parnell his second wicket.
That gave Morkel the scent of victory and he came charging in. Collingwood twice survived lbw shouts from Morkel and Parnell - the former making an unsuccessful referral attempt.
But Ian Bell was next to fall. The on-song Morkel got one to lift off the pitch and England's No 6 could only fend to Jacques Kallis at second slip.
Prior lasted just two balls before an ugly pull shot resulted in him top-edging Morkel to Smith.
Morkel was rampant and he picked up Stuart Broad after he gloved one to Boucher, despite Broad embarrassingly asking for a referral. Collingwood and Graeme Swann provided some resistance but Steyn and JP Duminy put England out of their misery.
sports@thenational.ae
England 180 & (second innings, overnight 48-3):
Andrew Strauss lbw b Parnell 22
Alastair Cook c Smith b Morkel 1
Jonathan Trott c De Villiers b Steyn 8
Kevin Pietersen c Boucher b Parnell 12
Paul Collingwood c Morkel b Duminy 71
Ian Bell c Kallis b Morkel 5
Matt Prior c Smith b Morkel 0
Stuart Broad c Boucher b Morkel 1
Graeme Swann c De Villiers b Steyn 20
Ryan Sidebottom b Duminy 15
James Anderson not out 1
Extras: (6lb, 1w, 6nb) 13
Total: (all out, 42.5 overs) 169
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-21, 3-48, 4-84, 5-103, 6-103, 7-104, 8-134, 9-154.
Bowling:
Dale Steyn 14-1-64-2 (2nb)
Morne Morkel 16-5-59-4 (3nb, 1w)
Wayne Parnell 8-1-17-2
Ryan McLaren 3-1-13-0 (1nb)
JP Duminy 1.5-0-10-2.
South Africa 423-7 decl.
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Starring: Nimisha Sajayan, Roshan Mathew, Dibyendu Bhattacharya
Rating: 3/5
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Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green
Starring: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton
Rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre 4cyl turbo
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The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
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Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
Law 41.9.4 of men’s T20I playing conditions
The fielding side shall be ready to start each over within 60 seconds of the previous over being completed.
An electronic clock will be displayed at the ground that counts down seconds from 60 to zero.
The clock is not required or, if already started, can be cancelled if:
• A new batter comes to the wicket between overs.
• An official drinks interval has been called.
• The umpires have approved the on field treatment of an injury to a batter or fielder.
• The time lost is for any circumstances beyond the control of the fielding side.
• The third umpire starts the clock either when the ball has become dead at the end of the previous over, or a review has been completed.
• The team gets two warnings if they are not ready to start overs after the clock reaches zero.
• On the third and any subsequent occasion in an innings, the bowler’s end umpire awards five runs.
Representing UAE overseas
If Catherine Richards debuts for Wales in the Six Nations, she will be the latest to have made it from the UAE to the top tier of the international game in the oval ball codes.
Seren Gough-Walters (Wales rugby league)
Born in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, and once an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi, she debuted for Wales in rugby league in 2021.
Sophie Shams (England sevens)
With an Emirati father and English mother, Shams excelled at rugby at school in Dubai, and went on to represent England on the sevens circuit.
Fiona Reidy (Ireland)
Made her Test rugby bow for Ireland against England in 2015, having played for four years in the capital with Abu Dhabi Harlequins previously.
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Director: Neill Blomkamp
Stars: David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Archie Madekwe, Darren Barnet
Rating: 3/5
Pros and cons of BNPL
Pros
- Easy to use and require less rigorous credit checks than traditional credit options
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- Convenient and can be integrated directly into the checkout process, useful for online shopping
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Cons
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Courtesy: Carol Glynn
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Director: Rob Marshall
Stars: Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Melissa McCarthy, Javier Bardem
Rating: 2/5
Company profile
Company name: Fasset
Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
Current number of staff: 86
Investment stage: Pre-series B
Investors: Investcorp, Liberty City Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Primal Capital, Wealthwell Ventures, FHS Capital, VN2 Capital, local family offices
UAE'S YOUNG GUNS
1 Esha Oza, age 26, 79 matches
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3 Khushi Sharma, age 21, 65 matches
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5 Heena Hotchandani, age 23, 16 matches
6 Rinitha Rajith, age 18, 34 matches
7 Samaira Dharnidharka, age 17, 53 matches
8 Vaishnave Mahesh, age 17, 68 matches
9 Lavanya Keny, age 17, 33 matches
10 Siya Gokhale, age 18, 33 matches
11 Indhuja Nandakumar, age 18, 46 matches
Dengue fever symptoms
- High fever
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If symptoms occur, they usually last for two-seven days
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Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
Seven Winters in Tehran
Director : Steffi Niederzoll
Starring: Reyhaneh Jabbari, Shole Pakravan, Zar Amir Ebrahimi
Rating: 4/5
THE BIO
Ms Al Ameri likes the variety of her job, and the daily environmental challenges she is presented with.
Regular contact with wildlife is the most appealing part of her role at the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.
She loves to explore new destinations and lives by her motto of being a voice in the world, and not an echo.
She is the youngest of three children, and has a brother and sister.
Her favourite book, Moby Dick by Herman Melville helped inspire her towards a career exploring the natural world.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
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Price: from Dh282,870
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Director: Carla Gutierrez
Starring: Frida Kahlo
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Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
Results
- Brock Lesnar retained the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns
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- Nia Jax won the Raw Women’s title against Alexa Bliss
- Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon beat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
- The Undertaker beat John Cena
- The Bludgeon Brothers won the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos and New Day
- Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle beat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon
- Jinder Mahal won the United States title against Randy Orton, Rusev and Bobby Roode
- Charlotte retained the SmackDown Women’s title against Asuka
- Seth Rollins won the Intercontinental title against The Miz and Finn Balor
- Naomi won the first WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal
- Cedric Alexander won the vacant Cruiserweight title against Mustafa Ali
- Matt Hardy won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal
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Engine: 1.8-litre 4-cyl turbo
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Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 6.7L/100km
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Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal
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Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
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The new Turing Test
The Coffee Test
A machine is required to enter an average American home and figure out how to make coffee: find the coffee machine, find the coffee, add water, find a mug and brew the coffee by pushing the proper buttons.
Proposed by Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Console: PlayStation 2 to 5
Rating: 5/5