South Africa tried to defy the obvious to England - a victory - but not for too long © Getty

After 1,508 deliveries of seam, we saw spin for the first time in the match. But only for three overs: five of Joe Root's offerings were dismissed for four, another for six. Another 126 balls of seam were bowled before Root resorted to Joe Denly, the poor person's part-time leg spinner, who somehow - half-trackers, full tosses and all - escaped with only 19 runs being taken off his three overs.

On days like Monday at the Wanderers, it's the little things that stick in the memory. Things like the England slip cordon applauding Billy Cooper, the Barmy Army's trumpet player, after he provided the accompaniment for the morning's rendition of "Jerusalem". And the Army, after tea, repeatedly serenading Cooper with: "There's only one Billy Trumpet!" Sadly, Monday was Cooper's last day among them. He is hanging up his horn for good.

And Rassie van der Dussen inventing a dance move - let's call it the squashed paperclip - to deal with a short delivery from Chris Woakes - and ending up on his back. And van der Dussen wearing, willingly, a 141 kilometre-an-hour delivery from Mark Wood on the chest. And coming within two runs of scoring what would not only have been his first century but also the first scored against England in the fourth innings of a Wanderers Test. Instead, he equalled the record Herschelle Gibbs set in January 2005.

And Vernon Philander walking out to bat, torn hamstring and all, at the fall of the sixth wicket, with no hope of scoring the 227 needed for victory, to do right by his team in his last few minutes - 13, as it turned out - as a Test cricketer. Because that's what pros do.

And Faf du Plessis leaping in reaction to a ball from Wood that reared off a length. The handle of Du Plessis' bat, which he promptly dropped, got the job done. But, after returning to earth with his footing unsure, he almost stumbled onto his stumps.

And du Plessis jumping again facing Stokes, and the ball again smashing into the handle, and the bat snapping at its splice. And, immediately after that, Sam Curran's throw hitting du Plessis on the pads. And Jos Buttler and du Plessis putting themselves, directly and provocatively, in each other's paths as South Africa's captain headed towards Stuart Broad. Buttler stopped in the same way that a football defender does when he knows an oncoming attacker can't help but clatter into him. Buttler and du Plessis collided at the shoulder, and du Plessis continued on his way to shove a finger in Broad's face to punctuate some apparently choice words. Seven balls later, du Plessis played on to Stokes and fumed off the field at least as angrily as Daddles the duck. Job done, Messrs. Buttler and Broad.

Why the snapshots? Because this contest was decided while Wood and Broad were hammering 82, a Wanderers record for the last wicket, on Saturday. Everything that happened after that was a prelude to England clinching their series victory as convincingly as they did. Even the three hours and one minute that passed between the dismissals of Dean Elgar and du Plessis on Monday - when the feeling that, with the help of a miracle or 12, South Africa might just do something outrageous gained a toehold - couldn't change that.

England deserved nothing less. They came to South Africa as a team that few trusted to be able to knuckle down and deliver, and they proved otherwise. For South Africa, who have lost eight of their last nine Tests, the only way is up. That's once they work out which way up is. They have enlisted important people to say important things, but so far they have done precious little that can be held up as an achievement.

The day's play ended as it began: with England's players, all of them this time, trophy and stumps held high, applauding the Barmy Army. It was not an ounce of comfort for the silently, sadly watching South Africans to know that, days from now, many of England's supporters will have bid their golden sunshine goodbye and surrendered to the grimmest days of England's winter. They will take with them memories of warmth and friendliness and beer so comparatively cheap it might as well have been given away. Please come again. But not until South Africa have remembered who they are and how they used to play cricket.