Andrew Strauss (0) started the day badly as, despite winning the toss and electing to bat, nothing else was to go his way. At all. The England captain was caught by Amla from the very first delivery of the test match from the bowling of Steyn. The ball wasn’t brilliant, nor was the shot terrible: Strauss flicked to leg and was caught out by an excellent piece of fielding by Hashim Amla.
Trott (5), at number three, was soon to follow, continuing his torrid times by falling plumb LBW after playing round a delivery from Morkel that angled in and was pitched well up. The back pad impact was never in doubt. The score was 7 for 2.
Pietersen (7) once again left England fans questioning whether he has the temperament to let his batting shine at test level playing a horrible pull shot straight to Parnell at mid-on from the bowling of Morkel. 32 for 3.
Morkel accounted for the recently resurgent Alistair Cook (21) soon after with another LBW decision which, while referred, the third umpire seemed not to notice that the bowler had overstepped his mark and the ball should have been a no ball. That said, it would have hit the stumps. Cook could be considered a little unfortunate. 39 for 4.
Collingwood (47), who had come in when Pietersen gave his wicket away then put on a reasonable stand with Ian Bell (35). Collingwood was unfortunate to fall just short of another well deserved half century when he hit a slower deliver from McLaren to Duminy at point. A simple catch which left England at 115 for 5.
Bell (35) followed Collingwood eighteen runs later clean bowled by a beautiful inswinger that Steyn had preceded with two going the other way. 133 for 6.
Within fifteen minutes, Matt Prior (14) was back in the pavillion, the wicketkeeper having been caught by his counterpart from the bowling of Steyn.
Broad (13) came in and was clearly intent on hitting a few balls to add quick runs with his partner Swann (27) before his batting came apart without much scrutiny being applied. Shortly after pulling for six, broad pulled straight to Morkel at mid on from the bowling of Kallis.
Sidebottom (0) faced just six balls before Boucher caught him off Steyn’s bowling on 155 for 9. The same combination would account for Swann (27) and give Steyn a well-earned five-for, leaving James Anderson not-out on 6.
England had scored 180 runs in little over 47 overs.
At the time of writing, rain had stopped play with South Africa on 16 without loss. Players are returning to the pitch for the remainder of the first day’s play.
England need wickets and fast if they are to avoid requiring second innings heroics for the third test match of this four match series. South Africa have the comfort of knowing a mediocre performance with the bat is sufficient to build a healthy lead on what does not appear to be a particularly lively wicket.
England will hope that their bowlers can produce substantially more than their batsmen managed.
England First Innings Scorecard
| England first innings | ||||||
| Batsman | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A J Strauss | c H M Amla | b D W Steyn | 0 | 1 | – | – |
| A N Cook | lbw | b M Morkel | 21 | 31 | 2 | – |
| I J L Trott | lbw | b M Morkel | 5 | 8 | 1 | – |
| K P Pietersen | c W D Parnell | b M Morkel | 7 | 16 | 1 | – |
| P D Collingwood | c J P Duminy | b R McLaren | 47 | 61 | 5 | 2 |
| I R Bell | b D W Steyn | 35 | 86 | 6 | – | |
| M J Prior | c M V Boucher | b D W Steyn | 14 | 25 | 2 | – |
| S C J Broad | c M Morkel | b J H Kallis | 13 | 13 | 2 | – |
| G P Swann | c M V Boucher | b D W Steyn | 27 | 27 | 3 | 1 |
| R J Sidebottom | c M V Boucher | b D W Steyn | 0 | 6 | – | – |
| J M Anderson | not out | 6 | 13 | – | – | |
| Extras | 0b 2lb 3w 0nb 0pens | 5 | ||||
| TOTAL: | all out , 47.5 overs | 180 | ||||
| Fall of wickets: 1-0 (0 Strauss, 1 mins), 2-7 (7 Trott, 6 mins), 3-32 (25 Pietersen, 25 mins), 4-39 (7 Cook, 17 mins), 5-115 (76 Collingwood, 83 mins), 6-133 (18 Bell, 38 mins), 7-136 (3 Prior, 4 mins), 8-148 (12 Broad, 13 mins), 9-155 (7 Sidebottom, 9 mins), 10-180 (25 Swann, 18 mins) | ||||||
| Bowler | O | M | R | W |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D W Steyn | 13.5 | 1 | 51 | 5 |
| M Morkel | 11 | 1 | 39 | 3 |
| R McLaren | 10 | 3 | 30 | 1 |
| W D Parnell | 3 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| J H Kallis | 10 | 3 | 40 | 1 |
