A rearguard for the ages, Zak Crawley's right hand and Ben Stokes' heroics... TEST MATCH TALKING POINTS

After England clinched a memorable win at Newlands, NICK FRIEND looks back at the key events from a thrilling final day

South Africa’s glorious failure – a rearguard for the ages

Are you not entertained?

Bottle all of it up. Every inch of it. The last session, the last hour, the last half hour. Everything that went into the final throes of this gladiatorial scuffle. Test cricket has endured the passing of time because of afternoons like this. For every bore draw or routine three-day result in damp and drab conditions, there is one like this – a game that just ignites and roars. It is why its purity remains and why its defenders hold it so dear.

As the sun started to set and the shadows began to dominate a ground where South Africa have tended not to lose – certainly not to England, it was a record that looked set to endure.

Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen had blunted what was left of England’s attack; James Anderson, a wonder of biology earlier in the game, was consumed with physical discomfort. The pitch had resigned itself to a draw that, two days previously, seemed an entirely unlikely proposition.

South Africa have previous. Outplayed by India in Delhi back in 2015, Hashim Amla’s side shut the door on the final innings. They lasted 143.1 overs for their 143 runs. They lost, but there was something truly wonderful about it all. It was as if they had challenged their own endurance, testing their own resolve to see how far strength of psyche can go on its own – some kind of extreme sporting Veganuary.

It takes a tremendous self-discipline and a rare level of single-mindedness to grit it out with an approach like that. Over. My. Dead. Body. And then some.

In India, Amla faced 244 deliveries for his 25; Temba Bavuma offered up resistance for 153 balls, making 34 runs in the process. AB de Villiers, the greatest white-ball cricketer of his generation, was at the crease for 354 minutes. He made 43 runs in that time, facing up to 297 deliveries of his own. When du Plessis came to the crease, he contributed 10 runs all with a strike rate of 10.30.

^{Quinton de Kock sits crestfallen after losing his wicket}

Then fast-forward to Cape Town. And to Pieter Malan. And then to Rassie van der Dussen. And then to Quinton de Kock. It seems almost unbelievable that Malan had never played international cricket until now. There were just three boundaries in his 288-ball vigil. He will surely get a prolonged go at it now.

Van der Dussen, too, in just his second Test, dug in with the stubborn wisdom of a man more experienced at this level. In both cases, however, a decade of learnings at first-class level have handed them this platform. Between the pair of them, they carry zero per cent fuss.

Each of the three will regret how they fell: Malan, because he had so seldom looked like losing his wicket; van der Dussen, because the trap had been set and he had strolled straight into it in one solitary lapse of concentration; de Kock, because he could have slapped a long hop from Joe Denly just about anywhere at this famous old ground.

Once they had fallen, the rearguard had been breached. England’s Trojan horse had broken through, with South Africa finally coerced into submission. Ultimately, a failure, but a glorious failure all the same.

Ben Stokes revs England's engine once more

In truth, it was final throw of a dice that Joe Root had rolled valiantly for so long. Short of changing the laws, England’s captain had tried everything. Anderson and Stuart Broad were done. Dom Bess, nicely though he bowled, could not get through South Africa’s raft of right-handers, with de Kock for the most part finding himself at the other end, often up against Joe Denly. The surface offered nothing to Sam Curran. The Barmy Army – a cacophony of noise for the most part – had shrunk briefly to a hush.

Yet, this is what Ben Stokes does. He is the conductor of England’s traveling orchestra. As he steamed in, the entire atmosphere changed. The engine revved and the wheels spun. A tank that at one stage was empty was suddenly alive once more. Cape Town could have been Edgbaston. Probably not Lord’s, because this wasn’t a home game in its traditional sense. There was a fervent din rarely heard in a cricketing cauldron. It screamed where normally it chats and mutters.

And once it had been resuscitated by its talisman, there was no stopping this drive towards victory; there was a startling inevitability to it all, just as there seemed to have been earlier when South Africa’s middle order seemed to have successfully constructed its wall of defiance.

But Stokes burst through it. And once he had knocked it down, there was only ever one result. In the last century, only three men have taken three wickets, five catches and scored more than 100 runs in the same Test. Stokes is one; Jacques Kallis and Sir Garfield Sobers the others. He is in fine company.

^{Zak Crawley's remarkable catch left England on the brink}

Back with a controlled bang - Dom Bess returns as a much-improved bowler 

Five of England’s seven bowlers conceded their second innings runs at under two runs per over. The pair who proved more expensive – Sam Curran and Joe Denly – went at a combined rate of 2.32.

Dom Bess bowled 60 overs in the game, 17 of which were maidens. This century, only one other English spinner, Ashley Giles, has squeezed through his work at such a stingy match economy as Bess’ 1.98.

Even if England had failed to get over the line today, they would have left the field safe in the knowledge that they could have done little more. After the disappointment of their first innings display, they played their finest four days of Test cricket for some time.

South Africa are without a draw in 26 Tests, equaling Zimbabwe’s world record. With two games to play in this series, it’s all to play for.

Ben Stokes... Sensational

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What. A. Catch.

Zak Crawley, by the way. What a hand. And how about the presence of mind. How good was that.