South Africa have been too strong, admits Vaughan
Michael Vaughan needs to find some form with the bat
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Paul Collingwood saved his international career with a gutsy century as England ended on 297-6 on day three of the third Test at Edgbaston. |  |
Saturday, 02, Aug 2008 09:34
England captain Michael Vaughan admitted it was a "huge blow" to lose the Test series to South Africa after defeat in the third Test at Edgbaston.
A fabulous 154 not out from captain Graeme Smith saw South Africa chase down the victory target of 281 as they ended on 283/5. The win means the Proteas take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match Test series.
Vaughan felt his bowlers gave everything they had and admitted he was confident of winning the Test match when England had reduced South Africa to 93/4. But he praised the innings from Smith which took the game away from England.
"It's a huge blow," said Vaughan. "We had them 90 odd for four and we were well in the game. We thought the game was on our side.
"I think we've just witnessed a very special innings the way he [Smith] played Monty out of the rough and we reversed the ball at times. It was very controlled innings and it's a good a knock as I've ever played against - in terms of the context of a series, to win a series for his team. We threw everything at him, but he was just too good for us."
The series defeat against South Africa will be hard for the England players to take as it was seen as their toughest test ahead of the 2009 home Ashes series against Australia.
A dissapointed Vaughan admitted that South Africa were much better than England and deserved to win the series.
"Over the three games we've played, South Africa have been the better team and that's why they are 2-0 up. We have areas were we can improve and we haven't batted well enough as a unit," said Vaughan.
"We have shown some positives in this match, [Paul] Collingwood's hundred in the second inings was very special, but South Africa have just been too strong for us.
"We've got one game left at the the Oval and we'll try our best to win that, but they are a tough nut to crack."
England have more selection dilemas ahead of the Oval test. They will have to decide if they want to go in with five bowlers - which would mean a batsman would have to be dropped. There is also a major question mark over wicket-keeper Tim Ambrose, who continues to fail with the bat.