Live Test Match Blogging / Ed Hawkins / 12 July 2008 / Leave a Comment

Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell played superb knocks to put England in the driving seat in this First Test but the likes of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis aren't the sort of players to lie down and die. Ed Hawkins talks us through the action...

19.00 South Africa 13-0
South Africa survived two overs each from England's new ball bowlers . . . Panesar and Pietersen.

The ball has not moved dramatically today. Rather it is down to England's professional approach in the field that Smith found himself facing both the first and the last delivery of the day. Vaughan's seam attack bowled good lines and a full length and as a result all got among the wickets. Monty got good turn and will look to exploit the rough tomorrow.

England backers will be pleased the home side elected to ask South Africa to back again. The visitors now trail by 333 and with the weather on Sunday set fair they realistically have to set themselves to bat out two days.

England [1.48] South Africa [120] Draw [3.05]

Join me tomorrow as England bid to pile on the agony for the tourists.

18.49 South Africa 0-0
South Africa commence their second innings. Light rain is falling and Smith faces none other than Monty Panesar.

18.40 South Africa 247
Umps consult the light meters again. Collingwood gets an ego boost - apparently its too dark and he is too quick to bowl. KP steps up.

Third ball is too tempting for Steyn who has a slog and gifts a catch to Sidebottom. Vaughan gives Smith the nod - the South Africans are batting again.

Mind you if England want to keep the tourists out there in this light they may have to open with Monty and KP.

South Africa were bowled out in 93.3 overs and trail by 346 runs. England [1.43] South Africa[170] Draw [3.25].

18.36 South Africa 245-9
About 25 minutes of play left today and the umpires are checking their light meters - Vaughan gives Monty the nod. We can expect Collingwood to trundle up from the Pavilion end.

18.25 South Africa 245-9
The Prince has fallen. The vice-captain edges Sidebottom and Ambrose pouches the catch. He scored 101 off 183 balls.

Now 11 overs left today. It's getting a bit darker now so Vaughan will have to put his thinking cap on. If the bowlers can whittle through the remainder England might be able to bowl an awkward few overs at Smith and McKenzie. The draw is now [3.25].

18.20 South Africa 245-8
A very patient Ashwell Prince has notched his ton. Impressive in the circumstances and a good test of his mental strength - he'd been in the nervous nineties for what felt like an age.

England have a vice-like grip on this contest, but the vice-captain's stand with Steyn - they have put on 41 - is frustrating more than just team England. It is also frustrating the market - England are now out to [1.57].

17.51 South Africa 229-8
Sidebottom is back and England take the new ball in the 84th over.

Idea for betting market. Steyn remover - which England bowler will get Dale Steyn out.

17.36 South Africa 221-8
New ball available. But Vaughan continues with Panesar who is chasing his fifth wicket. Is the captain guilty of acting like an indulgent parent? The last thing Dale Steyn and his bowling chums would want to see is a hard new ball whistling around their ears.

17.18 South Africa 201-8
Another great Anderson catch. Panesar to Harris who has a bit of a slog towards mid on. Those close fielders did their job applying pressure. Panesar has figures of 4-65.

England now [1.40].

Email me your views on whether England should enforce the follow-on at hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk

17.12 South Africa 200-7
Broad bowls to Paul Harris. Inside-edge onto thigh pad. The ball balloons up and Bell dives forward at short-leg. Television umpire is involved but once again falls marginally short.

The pressure is on now - four close fielders.

17.09 South Africa 200-7
I have a bit of a gripe about teams who bat on too long when a result is at stake.

Vaughan allowed his team to meander in order to allow Bell an attempt at a double ton. And I've lost count of the number of occasions that teams have overstayed their time at the crease in the second innings chasing safety rather than a win.

With weather a factor those of us who want a result will be keen to see Vaughan ask Smith and company to bat again.

Those who want a draw might not be too unhappy to see a cautious England management team give their bowlers a rest.

16.56 South Africa 191-7
Ambrose dived forward in an attempt to catch a Morne Morkel edge off Broad's slower delivery. The ball falls fractionally short. There has been a suspicion that keeper and slips are standing just that little bit too far back.

It is of little matter - an over later Morkel is bowled by Panesar. England are [1.48].

16.32 South Africa 166-6
Boucher attempts to leave a Broad delivery - the ball hits the bottom of his bat and sends the stumps flying. Interestingly it was another of his cross-seamed deliveries.

The wicket has a decisive effect on the market - there is no longer any fiddling around at the evens mark. We are into the tail and the England price reflects that [1.61]

Now we can debate whether Vaughan might think to bat again or enforce the follow-on

16.25 South Africa 166-5
Mark Boucher has scores of 35 and 68 in his two innings at Lord's. SA would like a repeat of either of those efforts with about 100 runs on top. The follow on is certain if he doesn't play out of his skin.

16.14 South Africa 161-5
Here's a list of numbers. 17/8/13/49/161/45/12/36/21*/5/21/83/33/8/182/49/38/18. They are the runs put on by Ashewell prince and AB de Villiers when batting together. The average of 44. So they are bucking a trend here.

That trend has just come to and end - they made 78 together.

Anderson thrills the spectators with a wonderful catch. AB de Villiers tries to hit Monty over the top and fast bowler leaps to his right - two-handed effort. With support like that in the field and all these chances being taken draw layers are delighted - we can now lay the draw at [2.08].

16.10 South Africa 158-4
Right, I've read the judgment - it seems manufacturer McVities won their claim that the Jaffacake was indeed a cake. More biscuit/cake info can be found at one of my fav websites www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com.

Back to more serious stuff and captain Vaughan has no gully and just one slip in place after tea. Panesar and Anderson in action.

16.00 South Africa 156-4
England on top still - we can back them at [2.34].Draw layers will be keen to see a couple of wickets in the final session. No sign of that rain I feared might arrive around now.

I've been watching AB de Villiers closely. He appears to have an interesting trigger movement. It's a little shuffle with front foot and back foot across his stumps, like he's waiting in line at the supermarket. But he's neither back nor forward meaning he is static. The pros would describe it as 'getting caught on the crease'. I reckon he's a leg before candidate.

More Jaffacakes with my tea, and yes I'm using a fresh mug! I'm indebted to Portuguese Pirate from London says: "I was disappointed to read that the issue of whether Jaffa cakes are indeed cakes or biscuits was even up for debate. Are you not familiar with the famous 1991 court case, Mr Hawkeye?"

PP has kindly sent me the ruling which I've been reading during the interval.

15.36 South Africa 153-4
Without wishing to get too heavy with the philosophy we punters appear to live too much in the moment, the draw is now [1.76] There are not many runs being scored, the weather is glorious and the batsmen look comfortable.

Boycott used to have a saying which went along the lines of "imagine the scoreboard with a couple of extra wickets down". That notion of looking ahead is a useful one at quiet times like these.

Remember we will get a new ball in 22 overs, time is on our side, the tail is near and those bowler friendly clouds will make a return before the day is out.

Vaughan reintroduces Monty prior to tea.

15.04 South Africa 141-4
The ball is about 50 overs old and Vaughan tries to be proactive, there is a double change.

Collingwood, under pressure to keep his place in this England side, gets the chance to have a bowl at visitors who look to be finding things a little easier now. A good partnership developing - worth 58 runs - the biggest of the innings so far.

Anderson jogs in from the Pavilion End.

14.47 South Africa 127-4
Bowlers need to be patient now.

They've had drinks at Lords and so have I. My flatmate likes to think of himself as a bit of an eco-warrior and insists on re-using his mug when he makes a fresh cup of tea. Well I'm being pretty decadent and using a nice clean fresh mug for my brew. Afterall there will be plenty more water about when global warming kicks in.

Those Jaffacakes are a bit addictive, though whether they are cakes or biscuits is a moot point - email me your view at hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk

14.39 South Africa 120-4
If Prince struggles with spin his partner at the crease - AB de Villiers - is inclined to struggle against sideways movement. This is his first tour of England and most his runs have come on flat wickets in the sub-continent.

Odd weather - dark clouds but plenty of bright sunlight as well.

It's the classic conundrum - England backers and draw layers love the idea of healthy bowling conditions but inevitably the very weather that we hope will assist with the result we desire can bring downfall with a downpour or bad light. The draw train moving in its regular direction of travel now [1.85].

By the way Boycott is talking onon TMS about how great the "old days" were.

14.26 South Africa 116-4
Monty is getting some spin and will be keen to have a good go at Prince. The left -hander loses his wicket to spinners 55 per cent of the time. That record is one of the worst of any current top six batsman in the world.

I'm off to make my first cup of tea of the afternoon. Choice of biscuits is . . .Jaffacakes.

13.46 South Africa 83-4
Vaughan calls on Panesar to continue from the Nursery end and he promptly bowls KcKenzie - with his first delivery after lunch. Plenty of spin - the ball didn't even land in the rough - and the left stump is struck. England back to [1.79] but with the middle order exposed.

13.00 South Africa 78-3
Well, Lunch it is then. England are performing well, reaping the rewards of bowling a fuller length than the tourists did and working to good plans.

The attacking field that Vaughan is able to set means runs will occur and McKenzie and Prince have been able to put on 31 runs from 42 deliveries.

A Chinese philosopher once said that a thousand mile walk is begun by placing one foot in front of the other. The tourists have an equally daunting challenge, they still trail by 515 runs. They will not be helped by a pitch that appears to offer variable bounce. Smith was out to a sharply rising delivery and Anderson got one to fly off a length when Prince arrived at the crease. Partnerships and inclement weather will be the key for visitors.

The weather doesn't look too bad from my vantage point. There is plenty of time left in the day, let alone the match as a whole. You can back England at [2.22] and draw at [1.85].

12.51 South Africa 65-3
England in a commanding position and now about 10 minutes before lunch Vaughan calls on Monty to have a bowl. In the time since the last wicket England have drifted back out to [2.06]

12.36 South Africa 47-3
Sidebottom captures the key wicket - Kallis. South African dangerman goes for 7 runs after edging to Andrew "the composer" Strauss. England go odds-on [1.88] and the draw out to [2.22]. The gloom in the SA dressing room grows, but sunlight beams through my windows.

12.28 South Africa 46-2
Broad has been bowling some good lines today, but he takes a break now and Anderson returns to the fray.

12.23 South Africa 45-2
Astute followers of this blog will have realised I'm not at HQ today - but I still hope to be able to bring accurate weather reports. A little bit of work with some online maps and a bit of geometry tells me my flat lies on the path of the major weather system as it travels towards Lords. The natural inclination for the draw to shorten continues, you can lay it at [1.70] now

11.55 South Africa 28-2
Amla has not last very long. He never looked particularly comfortable. Stuart Broad has induced the edge and South Africa are wobbling. England out to [2.32] and the draw [1.83] drifting, too. Jacques Kallis would be a big wicket here.

11.42 South Africa 22-1
Amla is a little fortunate to still be at the crease. He dislodged his helmet on one Anderson delivery and it almost fell on his stumps. Anyway, he is more famous for this incident http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lghAKqJgl0Q when Dean Jones apparently referred to him as 'the terrorist'.

11.30 South Africa 15-1
The two men at the crease are Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla. Both are interesting characters. McKenzie has suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder which meant, in the past, he has been crippled by superstitions. He used to tape his bat to the ceiling before going out to bat because his team-mates once did it as a prank and then he went out and scored a ton. There are other stories about toilet seats, white lines etc. But he's okay now and he credits his wife for his recovery. You can see why here http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=427608 An interesting tale about Amla in a few moments.

11.11 England 13-1
James Anderson has struck. And it's the big wicket of Graeme Smith. The draw price has drifted out to [1.62] and England are [2.62]. What will be encouraging for England, their backers and layers of the draw is the bounce that helped to remove Smith. The ball got up of a length and took the shoulder of the bat, balooning to point.

11.00 South Africa 7-0
Good morning. First things first, the weather forecast. A bit of rain is due at around 4pm so we should get plenty of action until then. Secondly, the conditions overhead and on the ground. Well, it's overcast and there is some moisture in the pitch. And that leads us to our third point, the England bowlers. For the want of a better word, they were crap last night. It is imperative they make the South African opening duo play this morning in ideal conditions. Email me at hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk

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