• CRICKET Game finely balanced
Steyn strikes early before England middle order show some steel Young guns fire against Windies
at Kingsmead
AS BEFITS Boxing Day, it was a wacky old day in Durban yesterday, with a little bit of everything, as England finished on 179/4. Nick Compton (63 not out) and James Taylor (70) provided the runs, while a resurgent Dale Steyn took 3/29 in a spell that wiped away any lingering concern about his fitness.
The manner in which Steyn started, after Hashim Amla had won his first toss in almost a year, suggested that South Africa could utilise the overcast conditions and run through England.
Steyn was missed in India, and the urgency with which he started proceedings yesterday showed just how much.
He didn’t account for English skipper Alastair Cook with one dream ball, instead setting him up craftily, dangling the carrot until the bunny in Cook simply had to have a nibble. It took 11 balls, but it was worth the wait.
Cook has plundered runs all year, in The Ashes and the Emirates, but he met his match in the recharged Steyn. Already, theirs seems set to be a duel that will be every bit as enthralling as the collective.
Steyn also added a hesitant Alex Hales to his victims in an opening spell that gave England absolutely nothing.
Dane Piedt, wisely selected as a slow option on a pitch that will give more purchase as it bakes, continued his happy knack of striking in his first over, with the massive scalp of Joe Root, after England’s most stylish player had cruised to 24.
Piedt, no great turner, got one to grip just a bit more, and Root was justified in asking the third umpire to have a look, who confirmed that Piedt was trimming the bails.
With England’s underbelly exposed, the hosts looked set to run amok, even on a day that was curtailed by inclement weather.
But the visitors found returning soldiers in Corporal Compton and Officer Taylor.
Cricket, much as we love it, can be wicked and wonderful, at times. The manner in which England’s No 3 was dumped from ENGLAND 1st Innings Alastair Cook c Elgar b Steyn ....0 (11m, 11b)
Alex Hales c De Villiers b Steyn 10 (30m, 22b) Nick Compton not out ..63 (284m, 179b, 4x4) Joe Root lbw Piedt ....24 (54m, 37b, 2x4, 1x6) James Taylor c De Villiers b Steyn 70 (204m, 137b, 9x4, 1x6) Ben Stokes not out ..................5 (8m, 8b, 1x4) Extras: (1b, 2lb, 1w, 3nb) ..............................7 Total (for four) ............................................179
65.1 overs Falls: 1-3 (Cook, 2.5), 2-12 (Hales, 6.5), 3-49 (Root, 18.1), 4-174 (Taylor, 63.3)
Bowling: Steyn 15.1-3-29-3; Abbott 16-2-40-0 (1nb); Morkel 15-1-44-0 (2nb, 1w); Piedt 11-2-39-1; Van Zyl 2-1-2-0; Elgar 6-1-22-0
Play starts at 9.30am today duty over two years ago was brutal and bizarre, and he would have been forgiven for thinking the only lions he would see would be on safari.
And yet, in the uncompromising manner of a traditional No 3, Compton returned to cricket’s Pride Rock, and simply dug in.
More than two years on the sidelines can do that to a man’s resolve. When you don’t know when your next international knock may come, it’s best to hold what you possess dearly.
Schooled for some part just up the road on the Berea, at Durban High School, Compton’s stand would have swelled the chests of at least some of the 12 000 folk who wobbled in with Christmas hangovers.
For all the stoppages due to rain and, ultimately, light, yesterday’s 65.1 overs provided exactly the type of fare that is worth waking up for.
South Africa would have wanted a few more victims, but the late demise of Taylor probably watered down their disappointment.
By the time he flirted unwisely with a late Steyn missile, Taylor had notched his second successive Test half-century.
But this wasn’t Pakistan on a feather-bed. It was Kingsmead, and an English crisis, and Taylor was still true to his positive instincts, driving imperiously whenever he could, and being content with ones and twos when he had to.
His stand of 125 with Compton, and the timing of it all, will give England immense satisfaction. Taylor, mindful that series and matches are not won in a day, will know that a century was his for the taking, but he and his side will also know that they could have been 150 and tickets.
Compton, meanwhile, will pick up where he left off. South Africa threw much at him yester- day, but 179 balls later he was still standing firm. Only four of those went to the fence, but they were four of the finest shots of the day.
Between balls, he often appears to have the same vacant look of another number three who liked batting at Kingsmead.
Jacques Kallis also had that same, faraway look, as if he could bat forever and a day.
Uncomfortably, for South Africa anyway, Compton appeared just as comfortable. USMAN Khawaja and Joe Burns rewarded the Australian selectors’ faith with sparkling centuries as the hosts dominated a limp West Indies attack on the opening day of the second Test yesterday.
Having recovered from a hamstring strain, Khawaja celebrated his recall with a glittering 144, with Queensland teammate Burns making 128 in front of a festive Melbourne Cricket Ground crowd to drive Australia to 345-3 at stumps.
The pair’s 258-run stand remained unbroken until well into the final session, with captain Steve Smith (32 not out) and Adam Voges (10) untested during the final overs.
After a run of modest scores, Burns was tipped to make way for the returning Khawaja, but it was middle-order batter Shaun Marsh who made way for the stylish left-hander.
“It was a nice feeling to make a 100 for Australia on Boxing Day,” Burns told reporters. “Something to savour ... Hopefully we can go on and win the Test match and … the series.”
Australia won the opener emphatically in Hobart and took a big stride towards sealing the three-match series with a game in hand after being sent in to bat by West Indies captain Jason Holder.
Holder’s decision was poor in hindsight, with the green-tinged MCG pitch flattening out after rain held up play for an hour. His players again failed to rally, with the bowling tepid at best and fielding at times abysmal.
Dropped
Khawaja was dropped on 23 shortly after lunch after nicking a half-chance to the gully, and spooned the simplest of chances to Marlon Samuels at cover, to again be reprieved on 142. He and Burns came together early after opener David Warner was dismissed for a quickfire 23, and they erased any lingering confidence the Caribbeans’ nursed after their innings and 212-run thrashing in Hobart.
Unbeaten at tea, Burns and Khawaja ramped up their attack in the final session and raced to reach their centuries. Burns made his ton and second Test century first, with a punch for three through point.
Khawaja followed two balls later, scrambling for a single presented by a misfield.
The pair ploughed on steadily to guide Australia past 250, with their opponents’ hopes fixed on the batsmen suffering a lapse in concentration rather than succumbing to any sustained pressure.
As it happened, Burns duly delivered after the drinks break, getting stumped after charging down the wicket at part-time spinner Kraigg Brathwaite.
Khawaja appeared to succumb to fatigue rather than the bowler’s guile as he tickled Taylor down the leg-side to be caught behind.
Kraigg Brathwaite said it was a “decent day” for the tourists.
“Obviously we have to try to be build some pressure to not let them score so freely,” said the spinner.