sport news England will play three-day Test decider with South Africa after tourists rule ... trends now

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England’s deciding Test will go ahead at the Kia Oval on Saturday, but only after South Africa refused to extend the match by a day in an attempt to make up for lost time.

The ECB wanted to add an additional day on Tuesday after seeing the first day of the final Test washed out and then the second called off out of respect following the Queen’s death.

But South Africa said they were not prepared to extend their stay by an extra day and will head for home as scheduled on Tuesday to prepare for their white-ball tour of India.

South Africa cited ‘managing workloads’ for their decision, but they are not due to leave for India until September 23 and only six members of their squad — Aiden Markram, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and Marco Jansen — will be on the plane.

Instead, sources told Sportsmail South Africa’s inflexibility owed more to pragmatism and their reluctance to risk another defeat that could jeopardise their chances of reaching next year’s World Test Championship final.

South Africa captain Dean Elgar talked a good game at the toss before rain hit on Thursday, saying: ‘There’s definitely going to be a winner in this Test, there’s no doubt. With the brand of cricket both teams are playing, along with the styles, there will be a result.’