Tea complete:
It was uneventful end to an uneventful day. Night watchman Paul Harris managed to get bat down just in time to block the yorker to keep out the lbw challenge from Ryan Sidebottom and England. South Africa now have less than 200 runs to surpass England’s tally. That’s how much the England managed.
Where did this article break before tea? ‘Hopes hinge on Flintoff.’ For England, the last over epitomized their efforts. Flintoff seemed keen to break out of his shell. He took on Makhaya Ntini and two smacking boundary shots emerged. But where there appears a ray of light for England, how can gloom be far behind?
Two run outs in two balls. England were having that kind of day. Flintoff’s brute batting woke up a dismayed crowd to rapture. But rejoice turned almost immediately to sorrow as first, James Anderson, and then, Monty Panesar were run out by an ever alert South African side. That the run outs came in a Test scenario and that too off successive deliveries are virtually indicative of the clueless helter-skelter manner in which the England team have been put together since the first Test.
Graeme Smith will be kicking himself for not seeing through the remaining overs of the day. There are no perceptible demons in the pitch. The last time spectators checked in, there were some serious ones those swarming the minds of England. God save the Queen!
Post Lunch pounding:
It would appear England’s last real resistance was broken with the fall of Cook on seventy-six. No surprises for guessing who was behind his dismissal. Andre Nel is sending clear signals that he needed to be drafted into the South African side on a more regular basis. He has been almost singularly responsible for England batting on crutches with six wickets down at tea.
Paul Collingwood, one would imagine, is as confused as anybody else about how his out-of-form presence suddenly became imperative. He may have been relieved to be back in the final eleven. But surely it is now short lived. Unless Collingwood can come up with an innings of the lifetime to not only save his kin but also, that of England’s, it may well be the domestic circuit for the one day skipper.
Hopes now hinge on Andrew Flintoff, another man in the England line up (how many can England afford?) who is batting without life these days. He is looking a little worn. England need him to turn it around post tea in order to keep the South Africans out tonight.
Morning breakfast:
Lunch will be uneasy for England. If there was ever an innings that flattered to deceive, this would have to be it. England are in shock as they walk back to the pavilion three down in a session that they could have called their own.
At sixty-eight for no loss, the signs were looking dangerously ominous for South Africa. Graeme Smith would have had mirrored flashbacks of Lord’s and Headingley where he chose to field first - the first backfired but with the second, he was vindicated. This decision at Edgbastion though was not his. And yet it was beginning to have its effect. Were South Africa beginning to miss Dale Steyn? Would Andre Nel have to be forced into action earlier than expected? Until the turning point, it was a sleepy affair for England and they could not be bothered with Andrew Strauss and Alistair Cook looking relaxed at the crease. England were cantering along by past Test match standards, no discomfort visible.
But the bubble burst and there is no way England could be comforting themselves in the dressing room. They lost three wickets in the space of six balls, and two in two balls. How much more of a shock could that have been? The session may not have started to South Africa’s liking but they would not have expected a better way to sting the opposition.
Andre Nel has not been the face of South African cricket for a while, which is a little strange in itself. But six months away from Test cricket did not set him back. He got down to business and the wickets he took, he would have made his skipper immensely proud. Strauss was just beginning to find runs when he was unfortunate to step back on to his own stumps trying to work a Nel delivery and woke up drowsy South Africa into alertness again.
There is something to be said of teams whose captains begin to look more like they were ghosts of the past. Very rarely do teams outperform the captain. The captain is the nucleus and the mood or form he is in is often reflected in the way the team performs. Michael Vaughan appears trapped not only at the crease but in his own mind. It is almost reminiscent of the time when on the same ground when Nasser Hussain handed the reins of the England captaincy to Vaughan after a Test against the same opposition. Frightening.
Vaughan has not found the middle of his bat and the only time he did find some wood behind the ball, he has often walked back to the pavilion. Smith did not miss the opportunity to pounce on the fact. Dale Steyn was all over him. But in his absence, Vaughan was not finding life any easier. He was last seen walking back after a successful South African appeal for a caught behind. Nel had just delivered a double strike.
Smith would have wanted to tear into the middle order. But the man standing between the South Africans and the rusty lot is Cook. He is becoming a defiant, defensive batsman in England’s dour times. To support him though would not be Kevin Pietersen. Pietersen needled the South Africans in the first Test with a century at Lord’s. But since then, South Africa have had the last jibe. Jacques Kallis was the beneficiary on this occasion, Pieterson caught by Ashwell Prince. Pietersen was not willing to concede his bat touched the ball. He stuck around disbelievingly. But there was little point. The umpire referral system is in force further south in Sri Lanka. England found themselves at a more seemingly familiar eighty-two for three.
England will have transformed very quickly from a cheery to weary dressing room; not the place to be at Edgbaston at lunch.
