South Africa vs England, 3rd Test, Day 1 Print E-mail
Category: Match Reports
Written by Luke Tagg   
Sunday, 03 January 2010 21:59
Bad light stopped play seven overs before the end of play on Day 1 of the third Test between South Africa and England in Cape Town, bringing to a close an enthralling continuation of what has been a memorable series thus far.

Oddly, neither side will feel entirely comfortable with the day's outcome, yet both will be aware that it could have been a lot worse.

At 279/6 South Africa may have a slight advantage, especially since they were put in to bat by Andrew Strauss on an overcast morning which paid instant dividends with the new ball.

It took just four balls of the Test for James Anderson to remove Ashwell Prince, who got out in identical fashion to his first innings dismissal at Kingsmead.

The ball pitched short and angled across him; Prince tried to drop his hands but feathered the ball with his glove to Matt Prior behind the stumps.

Getting out in the exact same manner to the same bowler in consecutive Tests is either down to a lack of application on the part of Prince or flawed opening technique. I lean towards the latter, if Prince's scores as an opener are the barometer:

150, 45, 0, 2, 16, 0

Forget about the 150 - it was at the end of a long two series against Australia and came in the dead rubber final Test, coincidentally at the very same ground as the current match. Prince was one of three South African centurions and there was nothing typical about the way they thrashed the ball that day.

All his other scores are against England in this series. Since we know Ash has no problems with application, nor passion and dedication, it has to come down to technique. Maybe it's form or a strange case of mental disintegration but he can't buy a run at present, which is hurting South Africa's ability to post big scores.

In his defence, it was a ripper of a ball from Anderson - in both innings. Anderson has bagged him three times in five innings to date - maybe a case of the Easter Bunny arriving early?

Let's hop not.

As if losing Prince in the first over wasn't bad enough, Graeme Smith decided that extravagant seam movement, bounce and swing were but mild obstacles to the thrashing he was about to deliver, and promptly chased a wide first ball of the second over - bowled by Graham Onions - and got the inevitable healthy nick to second slip.

Regulation catch, waist high, straight into the waiting mitts of Graeme Swann. And straight out again.

I couldn't work out whether I was more horrified at the sight of Biff chasing a wide ball on a seaming green top, or of a once-ruddy-cheeked young midlands farm lad turned into the Ghost of Christmas Past in the space of 3 milliseconds.

A nasty drop. The sort you hope the wife doesn't watch. Dropped catch equals minus 5 points, you understand. Makes her look bad to the other WAGs.

Swanny would make up for it later in the piece, but not before Hashim Amla decided to emulate Prince's copycat heroics by becoming the second batsman to get out in the exact same fashion as he did in Durban.

In the second Test it was Stuart Broad; this time it was Onions who trapped him plumb in front with a full ball. Amla (14 off 56) did his best balancing act and could be thankful he wasn't on a high wire, strung between opposing edges of the Pit of Sarlacc.

He might as well have been, of course, because the finger shot up faster than Tony Hill could give it and Amla was on his way, bat tucked under his arm and beard tucked under his chin.

Graeme Smith (30 off 50) followed in the second over after lunch when a ripper from Anderson deviated off the pitch to find the edge of his defensive prod. Prior did the diving formalities.

At 51/3 South Africa were facing demons past. The weather was getting better but Anderson, Onions and Broad were revelling. There was plenty of juice in the track and it required a stick-in-the-mud to get stuck into it.

Which is precisely what Jacques Kallis did.

First came a 71-run partnership for the fourth wicket with AB de Villiers, who scored 36 off 60 and looked more like the AB of old - until the AB of new arrived and played carelessly into the hands of Andrew Strauss at short midwicket off the bowling of Swann.

JP Duminy came to the crease. JP Duminy left the crease one ball later, as Swann hauled out his finest silverware and linen in anticipation of the hat trick to come.

A nervous prod, a bit of turn, a happy keeper and 127/5. Duminy down and out. Disaster.

That's two golden ducks in a row for Duminy, to go with just two half-centuries in his last 12 innings. The malevolent Selector's Eye must surely start turning JP-wards.

Duminy's dismissal brought Mark Boucher to the crease - a desperate man for a desperate time. Along with Kallis, who was plugging away manfully at the other end, it was a Last Great Stand of sorts - as soon as one of them got out England was into the tail and on the downhill run to tea and medals.

An 89-run partnership ensued between the best friends, roommates and occasional man-crushes, which took South Africa to 216/6 before Boucher (51 off 86) got trapped in front by Broad.

It wasn't exactly a place of safety for South Africa, but it was better than a slap in the belly with a wet fish. Or a poke in the eye with a blunt stick.

The tail, however, was exposed. England could get into it but reckoned without the heavily promoted Dale Steyn, who made his batting debut at No. 8, rocketing past Morne "Haydos" Morkel and Paul Harris in the order.

It was a peculiar, provocative yet strangely erotic move from Smith and it paid handsome dividends. Not just in my trousers neither.

Steyn (26* off 57) played the perfect foil to Kallis for the final 16 overs of the day, in an unbroken partnership of 63 for the seventh wicket.

He managed to stave off the ravening beasts for three overs when the new ball became available, and two ill-advised bouncers in a row from Graham Onions in the fading gloom convinced the umpires to put the game to bed for the night.

The day ended with Strauss teapotting at the umps and Smith smirking in relief on the balcony, in a clear indication of who felt they were in a better place at the close of play.

And when all was said and done, there he stood: a colossus of a man; an Ozymandias of his time. A man they call Dragon-Slayer. A man they call Babyface Killah. A man they call... Jakes.

With a century in his pocket and a gap between his teeth, Kallis stood unbeaten on 108* off 188 balls and roared a primal scream into the approaching night.

It was a well-paced, righteous affair which first saw him hanging on by the skin of his teeth as the ball zipped around him, pinning his teammates like skittles; then easing into a good rhythm with growing confidence before attacking the bowling later in the day.

He brought up his 33rd hundred (and his 6th at Newlands) with a cracking drive through extra cover and saw out the first three overs of the new ball with Steyn to take South Africa into a reasonable position.

279/6 is usually a pretty good score if you're asked to bat first - when a captain decides to field first it's because he's confident he can bowl his opponents out in one day. There's no other reason to do so.

The problem for South Africa is six down. As lovely as it is to see Steyn batting at 8, it hardly fills one with confidence for the morning of Day 2. Steyn looked horrible against the new ball and was lucky to survive a fingertip drop at third slip - if England get the ball moving around early on Day 2 he won't last long.

Kallis will have to make as many runs as he can with the tail, because this track will flatten out in the next two days and become ideal for batting. South Africa can't afford to concede another big first innings lead - England will clean them up with ease if they do, batting conditions notwithstanding.

If England can keep South Africa to less than 350 they'll be happy. If South Africa can get to 350 they'll be happy, although from where I'm sitting 400 looks a lot more appealing.

England's approach at this stage in Durban was to come out hard after wrapping up the South African innings. They might have to play with a bit more circumspection in Cape Town, though - whatever total South Africa sets is never going to be enough to keep England out of the game so they need to bat sensibly but without fear.

It's a good track - plenty for the bowlers and batters to work with. The key to the entire match will be the total South Africa sets tomorrow, and England's response to it.

I'm calling the first day to South Africa, by a tenuous whisker.
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