England removed three of South Africa’s leading batsmen to leave the Proteas in a perilous position in the first Test at Lord’s yesterday.
South Africa, at lunch on the third day, were 78 for three, still needing a further 316 runs to avoid the follow-on, with Proteas captain Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis all out for single figure scores.
Neil McKenzie was 35 not out and Ashwell Prince 20 not out in the opening match of this four-Test series. South Africa faced a daunting prospect in replying to England’s first innings total of 593 for eight declared, which featured Ian’s Bell’s Test-best 199 and 152 from Kevin Pietersen in his first Test innings against the land of his birth.
PHOTO: AFP
The pressure was on the Proteas batsman, notably skipper Smith who had chosen to field after winning the toss and resumed on 2 not out, with McKenzie unbeaten on 5 in a total of 7 without loss.
Five years ago, Smith made 259 at Lord’s — the highest score by an overseas batsman in a Test at the “home of cricket.”
But off yesterday’s twelfth ball, a sharp James Anderson delivery squared up the left-hander and took the shoulder of the bat before lobbing gently to Bell, running round from gully.
PHOTO: AFP
Smith was out for 8 and South Africa were 13 for one.
Amla had come into this Test on the back of scores of more than 160 in both warm-up matches, against Somerset and Middlesex. But having seen his helmet come off and nearly hit his wicket when he was on 1, he played at a delivery from first change Stuart Broad he could have left outside off stump and was caught behind for 6.
South Africa were now 28 for two with tall fast bowler Broad, who struck a Test-best 76 on Friday, building on the pressure created by Anderson’s opening spell of one wicket for four runs in seven overs with four maidens.
The collective accuracy of England’s quicks was in marked contrast to the waywardness of their South African counterparts.
Ryan Sidebottom then got in on the act when the left-arm quick angled a delivery across Kallis, on 7, which took the outside edge and was brilliantly caught low down by a diving Andrew Strauss at first slip.
Prince hit back with some fine shots, including a cover-driven four off Broad, but the session belonged to England.
On Friday, Ian Bell had fallen agonizingly short of a double century but his Test-best 199 had left England in a commanding position.
Bell did something few England batsman have managed in recent years — upstage the South Africa-born Kevin Pietersen, who earlier made 152.
His innings was all the more impressive as Bell had arrived at Lord’s under pressure for his England place after making just 45 runs in his four previous Test innings and knowing Andrew Flintoff’s return from injury was imminent.
But the 26-year-old, whose century was his eighth in 40 Tests, maintained the form he had shown in making 215 for Warwickshire against Gloucestershire during a recent County Championship match.
“If I knew I was going to get 199 coming into this game, I’d have snapped your hand off,” Bell told reporters when asked if he felt disappointed or happy. “But a double hundred at Lord’s would have felt really special.”
Bell, often accused of not making big scores when England really need runs, added: “Getting a big hundred is not something I’ve done enough of in my career so far, but hopefully I’ve turned a corner.”
England, who had resumed on Friday on 309 for three, with Pietersen 104 not out and Bell unbeaten on 75, started the final session on 535 for six.
Bell was then 171 not out and fast bowler Stuart Broad, belying his status as a No. 8, 54 not out.
For the second match in a row, the 22-year-old Broad posted a Test-best score, beating the 64 he made against New Zealand at Trent Bridge last month. Together with Bell, he shared an England record seventh-wicket stand against South Africa of 152, overtaking the 115 put on by Johnny Douglas and Morice Bird at Durban during the 1913-1914 tour of South Africa.
But on 76 he played round a straight ball from spinner Paul Harris, having faced 124 balls with 10 fours.
Bell went into the 190s with a cheeky reverse sweep four off left-armer Harris, before two short rain stoppages halted his innings.
Then what Bell admitted was a moment of indecision saw him become the seventh player in Test history and first Englishman to be out for 199 when he was caught and bowled by Harris off a checked drive.
England captain Michael Vaughan immediately signaled the declaration.
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