OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Friday 6.50pm.
NEW boys Andrew Flintoff and Chris Adams prevented England suffering another embarrassing batting collapse to steer the tourists into a comfortable position against a Combined Free State/Griqualand West XI.
England, put in to bat in good batting conditions, were hopeful their top order would respond by spending useful time at the crease ahead of the first Test in Johannesburg in less than a fortnight.
Instead they lost openers Mark Butcher and Michael Atherton inside the opening 11 overs and only captain Nasser Hussain, who made 41, passed 30 in the top five – hardly the preparation England wanted with a maximum of three more innings before the Test.
It was left to Adams and Flintoff, both on their first senior tour, to rescue the situation with the pair adding 132 in 41 overs to help their side reach 271 for seven at the close.
Adams hit a superb 84, including 10 boundaries, before edging to slip five overs before the close and Flintoff looked set to finish unbeaten but was trapped leg before off what became the final delivery of the day. — The Guardian