3rd Test: South Africa beat England and Win Series!

South African skipper Greame Smith lead from the front and by example to give his country a series win in England after a gap of 43 years. Their last series win against England in England was in 1965.

Smith scored a meaningful century in the 2nd innings of South African batting and took his side to victory target. Chasing a target of 281, South African reached their target with the loss of 5 wickets. Smith scored 154 not out and Mark Boucher added an useful 45 and they both scored 112 for the unbeaten 6th wicket partnership.

Struggling in the 2nd innings by 83 runs, England was rescued by Kevin Pietersen's 94 and Collingwood's timely 135. From 104 for 4, they both added 115 for the 5th wicket.

With this win, South Africa win the series 2-0 with one drawn and one more test to go.

Match: 3rd Test
Venue: Birmingham
Date: July 30-August 2, 2008
Teams: South Africa and England
Captains: GC Smith and MP Vaughan
Toss: England won the toss and decided to bat
Result: South Africa won by 5 wickets
Series: South Africa won the serie by 2-0 with one drawn
Man of the Match: GS Smith off South Africa
Score:

England 1st Innings 231 all out in 77 overs (AJ Strauss 20, AN Cook 76, MP Vaughan 0, KP Pietersen 4, IR Bell 50, PD Collingwood 4, A Flintoff 36 not out, TR Ambrose 22, RJ Sidebottom 2, JM Anderson 1, MS Panesar 1, Extras--15 (b 1, lb 7, w 2, nb 5), M Morkel 0 for 50, M Ntini 2 for 70, A Nel 3 for 47, JH Kallis 3 for 31, PL Harris 0 for 25)

South Africa 1st Innings 314 all out in 90.2 overs (ND McKenzie 72, GC Smith 7, PL Harris 19, HM Amla 9, JH Kallis 64, AG Prince 39, AB de Villiers 5, MV Boucher 40, M Morkel 18, A Nel 0, M Ntini 0 not out, Extras--41 (lb 35, nb 6), RJ Sidebottom 3 for 81, JM Anderson 3 for 72, A Flintoff 4 for 89, PD Collingwood 0 for 12, MS Panesar 0 for 25)

England 2nd Innings (trail by 83 runs) 363 all out in 98.2 overs (AJ Strauss 25, AN Cook 9, MP Vaughan 17, KP Pietersen 94, IR Bell 20, PD Collingwood 135, A Flintoff 2, TR Ambrose 19, RJ Sidebottom 22, JM Anderson 1, MS Panesar 0 not out, Extras--19 (b 8, lb 2, w 6, nb 3), M Morkel 4 for 97, A Nel 1 for 79, M Ntini 2 for 58, JH Kallis 1 for 59, PL Harris 2 for 60)

lost to South Africa (281 to win) 283 for 5 wickets in 80 overs (GC Smith 154 not out, ND McKenzie 22, HM Amla 6, JH Kallis 5, AG Prince 2, AB de Villiers 27, MV Boucher 45 not out, Extras-22 (b 9, lb 9, w 2, nb 2), RJ Sidebottom 0 for 26, JM Anderson 1 for 60, MS Panesar 2 for 91, A Flintoff 2 for 72, KP Pietersen 0 for 16)