James Taylor took a pair of miracle catches to help England secure a Test series victory in South Africa on Saturday, but match-winner Stuart Broad insisted the short-leg plucks were no fluke.

Taylor’s brilliance in every cricketer’s least favourite fielding position brought the dismissals of Hashim Amla and Dane Vilas during the Proteas collapse to 83 all out on Saturday, handing England the straightforward task of scoring 74-3 to secure victory.

The Nottinghamshire batsman lunged forward to catch South Africa’s ex-captain millimeters from the ground before later dislodging Vilas with a full length dive to his right. 

Broad, who took 6-17, praised his Outlaws’ teammates fielding, but admitted to being less convinced by the celebrations of middle-order man.

“Titchy Taylor took some great catches at short-leg,” Broad said.

“He was practicing them really hard,” said Broad. “We knew short-leg was going to be an important position because of the extra bounce and he spent a lot of time in practice working on his game.

“When he caught them, he was screaming and shouting. It was like Alan Shearer scoring a goal.

“Those sorts of catches win you games. We took our opportunities and it’s been a fantastic day for us.”

Broad rightly grabbed the headlines – and the man of the match award - for a destructive spell that brought back memories of his Investec Ashes winning 8-15 at Trent Bridge in August.

But, after a game in which Taylor’s catches, Joe Root’s century and runs & wickets for Ben Stokes were equally crucial, Broad dedicated his individual gong to the team.

“As a team we always talk about someone winning the Man of the Match trophy because generally you win the game,” he said.

“But it is a team game and a team trophy. Bowlers can’t do their jobs without the batsmen and Root’s hundred was one of the best I’ve seen him score.

“Conditions are a bit foreign to us with the extra bounce out here and it’s an atmospheric place to play and he played with such fluency.

“The Stokesy partnership with him changed the momentum of the game – and the fielders played a huge part in creating pressure and taking catches as we learned from our mistakes in the first innings.”

 

England are returning to the scene of their Ashes triumph in 2016 for Royal London One-Day Internationals against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Don't miss the opportunity to watch some of the best players in the world go toe-to-toe in the unique surroundings of Trent Bridge and secure your seats now.