South Africa vs England, 3rd Test, Day 2 Print E-mail
Category: Match Reports
Written by Luke Tagg   
Monday, 04 January 2010 21:03
Another scintillating day of cricket at Newlands saw 253 runs being scored and 11 wickets going down, as fortunes changed hands and millions were made and lost.

England came out blazing in the morning session, taking just 19 balls to dismiss the last four South African batsmen with some unplayable, violent bowling from James Anderson and Graham Onions.

On a relatively comfy 279/6 overnight, the Proteas crashed and burned to 291 all out with absolutely no answer to the late swing and seam movement generated by the England quicks.

Jacques Kallis (108 off 189) was the first to go, to only the second ball of the morning from Onions. Pitched full and on off stump the ball seamed just enough to kiss the outside edge, providing a regulation catch for Matt Prior.

The disturbing thing about the ball was how quickly it left the pitch, giving an early indication that the pitch had dramatically quickened up overnight.

Dale Steyn (26 off 59) was next, to the first ball of the morning from Anderson. Bowled on an uncertain length in an uncertain place during uncertain times, there was only one thing for Steyn to do: hang out his bat and see if any early morning fishes were biting.

They were. The ball swung, Jonathan Trott dived from third slip in the direction of fifth and took a good catch.

Neither of the overnight pair was able to add to their scores and by then the gig was up.

Morne Morkel (0 off 3) was out to the fourth ball of the same Anderson over, providing some much-needed slips practice for Graeme Swann at second, who took a blinding low catch to his left.

Paul Harris (10* off 7) hit a four and a couple in the next Onions over but Anderson bagged his fifth wicket of the innings with the first ball of his second over, with a ball that tacked in rather than swung out and crashed into Friedel de Wet's pad.

De Wet played his last hand - a call for a review - but the decision was upheld.

Only 12 runs were added for those four wickets and England would have been entertaining thoughts of a second consecutive innings victory. There was definitely something in the pitch for the bowlers, but it was a good batting deck for anyone prepared to apply themselves.

The sun was beating down, the crowd was buzzing and the South Africans were shell-shocked after three overs of pure carnage and broken dreams. The Test was ripe for the plucking.

The only way South Africa could stay alive in this series was to get stuck into England - fast. Conceding another huge lead would have proved a bridge too far.

Morne Morkel struck with the last ball of the first over, tempting Andrew Strauss (2 off 6) into a drive. The ball was full-ish and holding its line and Strauss couldn't resist the powerful drive, but caught in no-man's land - half on the back foot and half on the front - he could only edge to Mark Boucher with a highly audible nick.

Five wickets in half an hour would suggest a pitch with canyons for cracks and potholes for footmarks, but there she sat - doing a bit, enjoying the sun and wondering what all the fuss was about. The groundsman must have been pondering the same thing.

Jonathan Trott joined Alastair Cook at the crease and looked assured and confident in compiling 20 in a partnership of 34, which took them to just beyond the drinks break.

There had been no sign of Dale Steyn since his dismissal in the second over of the morning. The world's No. 1 fast bowler was somewhere in the outfield, chilling, with a pitch calling out his name over and over again.

Bizarrely, Graeme Smith decided to let Friedel de Wet - with precisely one Test behind his belt - take the new ball with Morkel, and although Friedel bowled well enough it was a bit much to ask him to uproot some of the top batsmen in world cricket with his first ever new ball.

Two overs before drinks Smith finally introduced Steyn, who took his time warming up and finding rhythm, and in his first over after drinks all hell broke loose once more.

Trott (20 off 36) couldn't resist having a go at a wide ball which was rising - he should have left it but was clearly feeling good. The ball ricocheted onto the stumps off the underside of the bat and the game suddenly came back to life.

Kevin Pietersen strode out manfully and the crowd sensed the challenge. The chanting and slow clapping began and Steyn obliged with a fast short ball which got KP ducking, despite being way over his head.

Oohs and aahs. Anticipation.

The next ball was pitched full on leg, swinging gently towards off before seaming in the same direction. KP tried to drive straight but the ball movement saw it hit the inside of the bat and fly back towards Steyn's right.

He stuck out a hand, the ball stuck and England's biggest threat was gone for a two-ball duck. 36/3. Drama!

Shortly after lunch Morkel got one up in the blockhole to Paul Collingwood (19 off 44), which angled in and struck the pad low down. As plumb as it gets.

England were reeling on 73/4 and South Africa were riding the wave. From the hell they experienced in the morning to the nirvana of the afternoon was a thrilling turnaround. They could begin entertaining thoughts of a hefty first innings lead.

This England side is made of sterner stuff, however. No matter how many of them you get out there's always a couple more hanging around, frustrating the hell out of you. It's never as simple as getting into the tail - you have to earn each wicket and bowl like demons.

Cook and Ian Bell carried on their resurgent form in a 60-run partnership for the fifth wicket, as the pitch flattened somewhat and became easier to bat on.

Morkel and others tried banging a few short ones in to Cook, to discover the pitch had lost some of its bounce. Such balls were fortunately few, because every single one of them was magnificently pulled to the boundary by Cook.

England went to tea with no further damage at 133/4 and with Cook having made another mature half-century. He and Bell were looking confident and untroubled and once more the tide appeared to be turning.

But four balls after tea Cook (65 off 136) flicked a short ball from Morkel to Ashwell Prince at midwicket - a strange shot, devoid of intent or emotion, which reopened the door for South Africa.

Matt Prior joined Bell for a 41-run stand as England edged ever-closer to wiping out the deficit, but Bell - two runs shy of a half-century - cut a short, wide Christmas gift from Kallis straight to Santa at point.

That brought Stuart Broad to the wicket at 174/6, but still it wasn't enough for South Africa. It was their story of the afternoon, really - constantly reaching out, trying to get a grip on the match, only for it to slip away a little each time.

Broad frustrated them for 39 balls before Steyn bowled a ripper with the reversing old ball, clipping the bails and dismissing Broad for 25. As if his innings wasn't frustrating enough, in came Swann - not the easiest man to uproot.

Prior had played poorly for his first 20 runs, offering nicks and edges and allsorts, but as he grew in confidence and approached his 50 he began playing with more assurance.

He brought up his half century off the second-last ball of the day and went to bed unbeaten on 52* off 96 balls. Swann was with him on 5* off 13 balls.

Far more importantly for both sides, South Africa's lead is just 50 now, which is no longer large enough to be of any real significance. It takes an hour of solid batting to score 50 runs, which won't make any difference due to the huge amount of time still left in the game.

Considering the form of Prior and Swann, not to mention the teflon abilities of James Anderson and Graham Onions, I reckon England will easily wipe out those 50 runs on the morning of Day 3 - possibly even go a little way past the target to give themselves a lead.

I don't see them posting a century stand between them, however, which means any lead they get would not be bigger than 50 runs the other way.

South Africa, of course, have a shiny new ball and the opportunity to clean up the tail, kick back early and watch Biff make piles of runs for the rest of the day. That's reasonable motivation for the bowlers.

So what we've got here is essentially a straight shootout - one innings each, one shot at glory. Whoever scores the most runs wins. There is time aplenty, so we're guaranteed a winner.

If England get bowled out cheaply in the morning - as South Africa did - it will put the home team firmly in pole position. If they wipe out the deficit or pass it, we'll have parity once more.

Considering the amount of frenetic action in the first two days of this Test, it's amazing to consider that the game is only about to begin.
Share
Tags:
 

Add comment

Note: you can skip this entire process - including using the spam protecting Captcha image - by registering. The details of registered members are automatically filled in and there is no security image to deal with. Just a thought.

 


Security code
Refresh

Hot Right Now

Most Popular

Latest Entries

Latest Sledges

I Support

Random Quotes

And despite it all, he is yet to develop a slower ball. Our breath - once bated - has long since been carried off into the cool Cape Town evening, along with any hope of ever seeing it.

From: Makhaya Ntini: 100 not out


Popular Taggs

Live Cricket Commentary

Live coverage of English cricket, from the Test Match Sofa.

Cricket Webring

Equator - a cricket webring

Prev

List

Next

hosted by The "Silly Point"

Feed Me Cricket link

Barmy Army

We have 47 guests online