CRICKET:WATCHING ENGLAND was a painful experience yesterday. The promise of an opening stand of 68 ended when Andrew Strauss trod on his stumps and was followed by a fall of the middle and lower orders.
Only Alastair Cook, eventually caught by Jacques Kallis, and Ian Bell, flourished. They went, for 76 and 50 respectively, after a fourth-wicket stand of 62.
There were some late pyrotechnics when Andrew Flintoff was left with the tail but, after hitting Makhaya Ntini for six and then four, he contrived to run out Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar from successive deliveries.
It was a fittingly slapstick end to an undistinguished effort all round. Flintoff remained unbeaten on 36 and left the field steaming, Panesar trailing in his wake: England should have thrown him the new ball and unleashed a tornado.
Most of the top order contributed little to the scoreboard and a great deal to what is a continuing batting horror story. Much more top-order failure will demand the sacking of the bowling attack. Michael Vaughan, net prolific as ever but in need of crease redemption, feathered his first ball to the keeper. That left the volatile Andre Nel on a hat-trick, following Strauss's dismissal for 20, and Vaughan under immense scrutiny.
Kevin Pietersen avoided the hat-trick readily enough but then, faced with full-length in-slanters from Kallis, whipped his bat across the line, got it snagged behind his front pad, and was deemed to have ballooned a catch via inside edge and pad to gully. That umpire Steve Davis got this wrong was immaterial: Pietersen was stone-cold lbw anyway. Paul Collingwood took 16 balls to get off the mark, and a further six dots before he nicked a tame catch to first slip.
All out for 231, a mediocre total, England had 11 overs in which to claw respectability back. They succeeded marginally, Flintoff, brought on to bowl the eighth over, finding the edge of Graeme Smith's bat with his second delivery and Strauss catching at first slip. South Africa will resume this morning on 38 for one.
The South Africans could scarcely believe their good fortune. The day had promised drudgery after Vaughan had won the toss on a pitch expected to prove sluggish from its middle parts and easy to bat on once any hardness and shine had disappeared from the new ball. Initially Morne Morkel looked threatening while Ntini looked almost a ceremonial figure. So Strauss accumulated and Cook unleashed some appetising pulls (if not timed to perfection) as the ball sat up invitingly. Nel grimaced and gurned his way to three good wickets, including that of Cook while Kallis nibbled away for three, with Bell and a single, late, bonus for Ntini.
Guardian Service
Edgbaston Scoreboard
ENGLAND - First innings
A Strauss hit wicket b Nel 20
A Cook c Kallis b Nel 76
M Vaughan c Boucher b Nel 0
K Pietersen c Prince b Kallis 4
I Bell c Boucher b Ntini 50
P Collingwood c Smith b Kallis 4
A Flintoff not out 36
T Ambrose b Kallis 22
R Sidebottom c Boucher b Ntini 2
J Anderson run out 1
M Panesar run out 1
Extras(b-1, lb-7, w-2, nb-5) 15
-----
Total (all out, 77 overs) 231
Fall of wickets:1-68, 2-68, 3-74, 4-136, 5-158, 6-173, 7-212, 8-215, 9-230, 10-231.
Bowling:Morkel 15-2-50-0 (4nb), Ntini 19-5-70-2 (1nb), Nel 17-7-47-3 (1w), Kallis 15-5-31-3 (1w), Harris 11-1-25-0.
SOUTH AFRICA - First innings
N McKenzie not out 12
G Smith c Strauss b Flintoff 7
P Harris not out 10
Extras(lb-8 nb-1) 9
----
Total (for one wicket, 11 overs) 38
Fall of wickets:1-17.
To bat:H Amla, J Kallis, A Prince, AB de Villiers, M Boucher, M Morkel, A Nel, M Ntini.
Bowling (to date):Sidebottom 6-2-16-0, Anderson 3-0-10-0 (1nb), Flintoff 2-1-4-1.
