England grab slight edge
SOUTH Africa were provided with a glimpse of the future yesterday at a sun-baked Newlands. Like the cloudless skies that provided an idyllic backdrop throughout the day, it is crystal clear that the Proteas attack without Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander are not the force that entrenched this team’s status as the World No 1 Test unit.
It was not only Steyn’s lethal outswingers and Philander’s nibbling lengths that were missed on a Newlands pitch that offered good pace and bounce throughout, but also the extra zip and energy that Steyn’s teammates draw from those crazy celebrations of his.
Without their talisman to inspire them, the searing heat seemed to drain the home team that would dearly have loved their captain to win the toss and elect to bat.
Instead, after Durban’s exertions a few days ago, the Proteas were again kept in the field for another full day chasing shadows as the England batsmen set their stall from the outset.
It was not through a lack of effort, but rather execution, as both spells with the new ball at either end of the day were too short to trouble the visiting batsmen.
With the shadows lengthening towards the close and Ben Stokes well set, the tattooed all-rounder whose refreshingly positive approach to the game gives the impression he would be more comfortable in the dressing room of his birth country, New Zealand, laced the home team’s bowlers to ensure yet another day in this series belonged to Alastair Cook’s men.
The advantage that England currently enjoy would have been greater were it not for the big hope of South African cricket, Kagiso Rabada, delivering a performance that restores belief that the domestic circuit and surrounding structures will continue to spit out those unpolished diamonds.
The 20-year-old’s only previous taste of Test cricket was on the dustbowl surfaces of India. Here, at Newlands, he could get the ball to fly through head-high to his good friend Quinton de Kock, who was back behind the stumps after a ENGLAND First innings A Cook c Morris b Rabada ..........................27 A Hales c de Villiers b Morkel ......................60 N Compton c Bavuma b Rabada................45 J Root c De Kock b Morris ..........................50 J Taylor c De Kock b Rabada........................0 B Stokes not out............................................74 J Bairstow not out ........................................39 Extras (b10, w7, nb4) ................................22 Total (for five; 87 overs)............................317 Falls: 1-55 (Cook, 16.3 ov), 2-129 (Hales, 43.5 ov), 3-167 (Compton, 55.2 ov), 4-167 (Taylor, 55.3 ov), 5-223 (Root, 67.5 ov) Bowling: Morkel 17-2-51-1 (1w), Morris 22-3-99-1, Rabada 19-2-74-3 (4nb, 2w), Piedt 21-5-63-0, Van Zyl 5-0-12-0, Elgar 2-0-7-0. six-month stint on the sidelines.
It was natural that young Rabada became overly-excited by this responsive surface, but it took a while before he hit the correct length. In fact, it was mid-way through his sixth over already when he pitched up one to Cook that immediately yielded the desired result. The England skipper pushed tentatively forward, but could only edge the ball to the slip region, where debutant Chris Morris took a stunning, one-handed, diving catch to his left to provide South Africa with the much-needed opening breakthrough.
Rabada did not forego the shortball strategy altogether, and amped up the hostility shortly before tea, when he responded to a delightful pull short by Joe Root with a ripsnorter that looped just short of an advancing slip cordon and wicketkeeper after striking the splice of Root’s bat.
Short ball
The tearaway was now well into his work, and dug deep into the energy reserves again when he let loose another short ball to Nick Compton, which the batsman pulled hard but straight to Temba Bavuma at midwicket. Rabada had his second Test wicket on home soil and only had to wait the length of the tea break to get his third, when James Taylor edged the first delivery after the interval behind to leave Rabada on a hat-trick.
Though the personal milestone was not achieved, there was further success for a now buoyant South African team when Morris claimed his maiden Test wicket by getting a well-set Root to edge behind.
The home crowd that had been overwhelmed by the large English presence within this most picturesque of grounds, suddenly found its voice and were baying for the killer blows to be landed.
However, this was where Steyn’s assassin skills are missed severely, especially against an England line- up that is blessed with an abundance of free-flowing strokeplayers hovering lower down their order.
Stokes is often the catalyst for this merry bunch, and he showed how dangerous he can be by climbing into Morris’s first over with the second new ball, when he helped himself to four boundaries in five balls. The sixth-wicket partnership with Jonny Bairstow (39 not out off 59 balls, 5 fours) is already worth 94 runs, and South Africa will need to make early inroads today to keep England’s first innings total to within reason.