South Africa took the honours on the second day of the third Castle Lager/MTN cricket Test at Newlands on Monday, taking three England wickets after tea. At close of play, England had 95 for four in reply to South Africa’s first-innings score of 441 all out.
England have a deficit of 346.
South Africa resumed play on 247 for four and Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis survived a torrid spell of bowling by England’s premier bowler, Steve Harmison. His first over of the day was particularly hostile.
His first delivery struck Kallis on the hand, and his second sent Kallis tumbling to the ground while ducking a bouncer. But it was Matthew Hoggard who made the breakthrough in the sixth over of the day, when Amla was given out lbw to a ball that appeared to be too high to hit the wicket.
AB de Villiers made a breezy 21, and shared a partnership of 49 with Kallis before he charged down the pitch to spin-bowler Ashley Giles, only to miss and see the ball hit his wicket.
Shaun Pollock managed just four runs before he was caught behind by Geraint Jones off Andrew Flintoff, but Nicky Boje and Kallis put on 103 runs for the eighth wicket before Kallis, who had reached his 19th Test century, was caught by Jones off Flintoff for 149.
Boje achieved his first Test half-century since 2000, and had scored 76 runs off 97 balls when he was caught behind by Jones off Flintoff to bring South Africa’s innings to a close.
Makhaya Ntini was out for a duck, and Charl Langeveldt had a painful introduction to Test cricket when the third delivery he received from Flintoff hit him on the left hand. He is thought to have fractured the hand, and was scheduled to go for X-rays at close of play.
Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss started off very positively, scoring at more than three runs an over, although this did not last long before Smith’s men brought the run rate down to just more than two-and-a-half.
The first 50 came up after 75 minutes, but almost immediately after that milestone, Ntini captured Trescothick’s wicket when he slashed at a delivery and Herschelle Gibbs took the catch at point.
Nine balls later, Pollock had Robert Key, playing for the first time in the series, caught by De Villiers for nought. Michael Vaughan, who had been for X-rays before the start of play after being hit on the middle finger of his right hand, lasted for 23 minutes before he was caught by De Villiers to give Langeveldt his first Test wicket.
Just before the close of play, Andrew Strauss, who had been imperious in scoring centuries in the first two Tests, dragged a delivery from Ntini on to his wicket for 45. When stumps were drawn, Thorpe was not out on six, and Hoggard had yet to score. England still need 146 to avoid the follow-on.
Kallis said at the media conference after the match that it was very important for South Africa to have taken the four wickets, particularly the wicket of Strauss, who had been scoring prolifically.
”I thought the guys were getting the ball in the right areas, and applied the pressure to England. The key tomorrow will be to get it in the right area consistently.”
He said the wicket will get more difficult to score on as the game continues.
”Usually it gets a little more uneven towards the end of the Test match, with that difficult type of bounce.”
Kallis said Boje played very well to help South Africa reach 441.
”At one stage, we were looking at getting 400 — it was an absolute bonus to get 440. Nicky played unbelievably. It’s important that the lower-order batsmen contribute, which they have done in the last few games, and Nicky’s a great batter. He showed what kind of player he is today.”
He said he hopes he will be able to play a big role in the Test, both with bat and ball.
”I’ve worked hard on my bowling this season, and it’s coming on nicely. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a few wickets, and win the game with bat and ball.”
Flintoff, who took four South African wickets and is regarded as one of the world’s best all-rounders, said England are not too perturbed about having lost four wickets.
”We’ve been in this position before, but I’m confident that we can come back. The rest of us will have to bat well tomorrow [Tuesday]. It’s a scrap, but we have the confidence that we can get back into this Test match.
”Over the past 12 to 18 months we’ve improved as a side, and every time we’ve needed a special performance from someone, someone has stuck their hand up and done something special.”
Tsunami fund-raising
Fans attending the Test at Newlands raised R40 000 for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami catastrophe in south-east Asia by close of play on the second day of the match on Monday.
The money has been raised from the sale of raffle tickets for cricket shirts signed by both the South African and English teams, and the tickets will be sold throughout the five-day Test.
The joint sponsors of South African Test cricket, Castle Lager and MTN, have also donated money to the disaster relief fund, and income generated from the Cricket South Africa hotline and the SMS the Scoreboard campaign will also be donated to the fund.
Cricket supporters are urged to SMS the words ”Cricket supporter” to Tel: 083 123 6464. — Sapa