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South Africa tour of England
Test Format
3rd Test
England v South Africa
The Oval
London, England
8-12 September 2022
South Africa captain Dean Elgar insists he and coach Mark Boucher won't be forced into making panicked decisions ahead of the
third test against England at the Oval, which starts on Thursday, September 8.
After winning the first Test at Lord's by an innings and 12 runs, the Proteas slumped to an innings-and-85-run defeat in the second Test as England levelled the series at 1-1.
The tourists weren't anywhere near good enough with the bat at Old Trafford as they were limited to 151 runs in the first innings and 179 in the second innings.
Brendon McCullum's team performed much better at the crease last time out, with Ben Stokes (103) and Ben Foakes (113) both scoring centuries to help the hosts to 415 for nine declared in their solitary innings.
Kagiso Rabada (36) and Keegan Petersen (42) were the top scorers for SA in each innings, with none of their batters reaching a half-century.
Elgar highlighted the need for an improvement with the bat in Kennington, but is adamant there is no need to push the panic button as they look to bounce back.
"Sometimes you can go into panic mode when things like this happen," he said. "Myself and the coach are not guys to panic. We are still a good side.
"Sometimes time away from the game is not a bad thing. We will use that period for a bit of connection again within the group.
"Let's pull ourselves towards ourselves and don't forget why we are here: we are here to win a Test series and we are in a great position to still win a Test series. We'll clear our minds, let the dust settle and focus on the third Test."
Head-to-Head (Tests)
Matches - 155
England - 65
South Africa - 35
Draws - 55
Test Team Rankings
3 - South Africa
4 - England
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