Betfair | Live Test Match Blog: Eng v SA, second Test, day three

Live Test Match Blog: Eng v SA, second Test, day three

Ed Hawkins is in the blogging hotseat again. England are struggling on day three of the second Test, can they turn it around?

18.45 England 50-2
A big moment. A squared up Michael Vaughan has edged Ntini - with only eight balls left today -to Boucher who snaffled the catch. A really big blow for England and if the game wasn't up before then, it surely is now. South Africa [1.17]

18.30 England 45-1
Just to give you all a bit of a update regarding what needs to happen for South Africa to be denied a victory. If England batted to about this time tomorrow they would probably be level with South Africa. If, by some miracle, England made 500 that wouldleave South Africa with only 181 to make, which is inside the average fourth-innings score at Headingley. But only just. The average third innings score in the last five years is 253. England are currently 274 behind.

18.13 England 38-1
There are nine overs left today and England will be slightly annoyed that they are batting under bright skies. A bit of gloom would have come in handy so they could retreat to the sanctuary of the pavilion. South Africa will be pleased that they have at least one wicket tonight. Obviously they would be happier with two but they should not be too perturbed. England may have to bat for another five sessions to survive.

17.55 England 31-1
This is something that has been bugging me for a while: Graeme Smith's cap is too small. It does nothing to banish your reputation as a big head, Graeme. Nor does showing off that you have a big head mean you are brainy. That thinking died out years ago.

17.34 England 22-1
Michael Vaughan is finding batting a struggle. He has been pranged on the finger by Dale Steyn, who has caused him problems in the past. Twice in his career, Vaughan has been bowled by full swinging deliveries by Steyn. One of those was at Lord's. On both occassions he was guilty of playing across the line. So to counter that, Vaughan has taken a leg stump guard. It is working so far because Vaughan is playing much straighter. However, it shows how Steyn has got into the mind of the England captain and forced him to tinker with his game. Really, he should be just going out there and backing his ability

17.15 England 3-1
South Africa strike. And importantly it is Andrew Strauss who has edged a catch off Makhaya Ntini to Mark Boucher. Strauss has looked in good order so far in this series and he leaves behind Alastair Cook, who has been struggling, and Michael Vaughan who is definitely out of touch. SA's price dipped from [1.33] to [1.19].

16.51 SA 522
South Africa are all out and they have shortened slightly to [1.29] for the obvious reason that the game has moved on and they can make greater progress to winning it by taking England wickets. The market didn't budge much as South Africa added to that lead (319) in the last two sessions but we can expect it to spring to life now England are batting again. The pitch is getting tougher to bat on, with some uneven bounce, but we may not see any real demons until tomorrow. Email me at hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk

16.34 SA 511-9
AB 'The Bible' de Villiers has bashed England for 174 runs. Give me an Amen! But his innings has been ended by a brilliant slip catch from Andrew Flintoff off Stuart Broad. A one-handed special. Hallelujah! We may have an answer to our query about whther the SA psyche has changed from 1990s caution. De Villiers and Paul Harris had accelerated nicely, increasing the run rate to 4.5 over the last 10 overs. Harris has followed De Villiers almost immeditaely back to the pav. Caught by Anderson off Panesar. SA lead by 308.

16.14 SA 487-7
South Africa really should throw bat to ball after tea. Otherwise they could be accused of being too cautious. In the 1990s South Africa had a reputation as a side that were guilty of removing their foot from the throat of opponents. There were three memorable examples against England when South Africa were in charge but did not have the guts to really push on for victory. In 1995 at Johannesburg they came off for bad light to lose valuable bowling time, in 1999 at Port Elizabeth Jacques Kallis and Jonty Rhodes crawled along at less than two an over meaning a declaration was delayed too long and in 1998 at Old Trafford SA's batsmen were guilty of the same meaning England were to escape again. Mike Atherton, in his book Opening Up, talked about these instances and said SA were a side that would not progress "until they change that approach...will continue to inhibit them and will constantly finish bridesmaids in their battles against Australia". Let's see if SA have changed.

15.45 SA 480-7 TEA
South Africa lead by 227 runs. Healthy that. WIll be interesting to see whether they really go for it after the break. The South Africa of old would continue to play with caution so stand by to spot whether the psyche has changed. Once back from the break, we'll delve deep into the minds of South Africa to explore that a little further.

15.25 SA 465-7
As punters we should always be trying to think about what could be happening in the future. With that in mind, tea is just around the corner and with England certain to be batting in the final session, be aware of poor light because as soon as it gets gloomy, the home batsmen will be off. It could be argued that England are quite happy to stay in the field, especially as SA are not scoring quick runs. This may be why England have not taken the new ball. The less time ENgland have to bat the better in their eyes.

15.10 SA 449-7
AB 'the Bible' de Villiers may as well start playing some shots. It's getting to the stage now where the longer South Africa bat, so the chances of them winning decrease. Okay, only by tiny tiny margins but it is a pertinent point all the same. There's little point SA batting time, which is what they are doing at the mo. The run rate over the last 10 overs is barely above two-and-a-half.

14.40 SA 427-7
Monty Panesar claims his first wicket. Morne Morkel bowled through the gate for a duck. No discernible change in the prices. Looks like Norman is going to come second again - dropped a shot already. Lucky Chris.

14.30 SA 422-6
Mark Boucher has dragged a pull shot on to his stumps to be bowled by Jimmy Anderson. It is England's third wicket in one-and-a-half days. That last fact is the reason why, 219 runs behind, they can't win this match. The prices are barely moving on Betfair, a strong indication that the game is up.

14.20 SA 410-5
There's a golf tournament going on at the mo apparently. A few golfers have been making birks of themselves at Birkdale. Greg Norman could cause a huge surprise by winning The Open, of course. Here's a stat for you if you were considering backing him: in the eight Majors that Norman has led going into the final round, he has only won one of them. The Open in 1986 I believe. He was second in every other. Coming second all the time clearly was not something which put off his new wife, Chris Evert. Email me at hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk

14.00 396-5
Just a thought. If The Roofer suddenly hits a rich vein of form we can all shout ''The Roof! The Roof! The Roofer's on Fire!' Spots of rain at Headingley now. Covers at the ready. Might be a passing shower.

13.40 SA 385-5
Darren Pattinson has been entrusted with the first over after lunch given his solid performance this morning. England must claim a wicket in the first 20 minutes after their sandwiches. With Morne Morkel in next, England would be through to the tail with a glimmer of hope. As I type Pattinson has dropped a caught and bowled chance off Boucher. A very tough one though. Stretching down to his right, as if he was extending to do a bit of roofing work. He used to be a roofer you know. A point an obsessed media have to bring up when mentioning him. From now on, we'll just call him The Roofer.

12.05 SA 384-5
South Africa are 181 runs ahead and they will be delighted with their work in that first session, having lost only one wicket. England are [27.00], SA [1.32] and the draw is [4.50]. England are desperate to knock over these final five SA wickets for a pittance. If they could restrict the tourists to another 40, then England would still have a slim chance of victory because of the Headingley wicket's penchant for crumbling. Say if England got 400 batting second they could set SA around 150. But anything less than that and England can consider themselves 1-0 down.

12.55 SA 378-5
Bible has his century. It was greeted by boos from the Headingley crowd because of the dropped catch he tried to claim on day one and because most of them are Yorkshiremen without an ounce of humility.

12.45 SA 375-5
AB de Villiers is one run away from a century. Cruella de Vill for England. I've just had an infuriating conversation regarding de Villiers with my moronic flat mate. He wanted to know what de Villiers's nickname was. "It's AB," I told him. "No, no, his nickname?" he replied. "That is his nickname. His real name is Abraham Benjamin." "In that case," he said. "I'd call him Bible, because Abraham is a biblical figure."

12.15 SA 364-5
As mentioned previously, England's bowlers are tired. James Anderson's pace is down, so too is Stuart Broad's. Andrew Flintoff, whose 31 overs is the greatest workload he has had to manage since recovering from injury, is feeling the effects. His pace is down on his first spell. As for Darren Pattinson, well, he has no pace. He sends it down not much above 80mph. That would suggest South Africa have a good chance of runs with AB de Villiers (94) approaching his ton and Mark Boucher more than useful. It could be worth backing the draw at [4.50] with a view to a lay as the price will dip with runs. Bear in mind, however, that there is little SA batting to come.

12.00 SA 355-5
I was preparing to give the selection of Darren Pattinson a good slagging but he has just taken the wicket of Ashwell Prince, who has fallen one short of 150. England'sprice falls from [40.00] to [22.00].

11.40 SA 344-4
James Anderson, who often couldn't hit water from a boat, is bowling beautifully this morning. He is getting the ball to jag around quite a bit as South Africa struggle for runs. It highlights the importance of cloud cover at Headingley. The swing has only started since some dirty clouds rumbled in. But crucially England have to make it count. If Ashwell Prince, who has gone to a career-best 141, and AB de Villiers survive this spell, then they can again make hay.

11.20 SA 330-4
England's bowlers are 25-hour pitch-it people. The four-hour batting spell in this match aside, England have been in the field for 25 hours. In that time you can fly to Australia, plus a few hours of circling before landing. In a few years such a stat may not be so interesting, however, because some science boffin at this link http://english.pravda.ru/science/earth/28-03-2008/104707-earth_rotation-0 reckons the world is going to start spinning more slowly.

strong>11.10 SA 329-4
Good morning folks. Here we are again for more fun and frolics. An important day for South Africa, who are 126 runs ahead. Even more so for England. If the tourists dominate today like they have done the two previous days, then England will most certainly find themselves 1-0 down with two to play. South Africa coach Mickey Arthur said his team have "created a window of opportunity" and all they need to do is "walk through that window". Sounds dangerous. Here are the prices England [28], South Africa [1.29] and the draw [5.00]. You can email me your views at hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk

20 July 2008 / About Ed Hawkins