Ex-factor for England
World title still on line as Strauss tries to lay ghost of KP
ENGLAND fought hard to show they can find an ex-KP factor against South Africa here yesterday as they continued their gut-busting efforts to cling on to their status as the best Test side on earth.
Their trial separation from Kevin Pietersen apparently a day or two closer to becoming a divorce, England approached the final Test of the Investec series to decide the heavyweight championship of cricket fully aware of the risks involved in dropping one of the best attacking batsmen in the world.
No matter what Pietersen’s advisors may plan next, the England team and management appear determined to face the future without him in all forms of the game.
Yet Andrew Strauss, Andy Flower and their players arrived here knowing what they could really do to persuade everyone such a hardline approach was justified was to win, pure and simple.
Late last evening, the game swung a notch or two back in their favour with the late, controversial dismissal of Jacques Kallis at 131-3, lbw to Steve Finn when Hotspot failed to support the batsman’s assertion that he had hit the ball.
To win, England will need skill, courage and more of the same luck against a South Africa team worthy of challenging for top spot.
In truth, they are just a bit better than England right now.
The first part of day three, which began with England on 208-5, still 101 short of South Africa’s 309, was more than mildly encouraging.
It featured an extension of Jonny Bairstow’s courageous overnight 72 to the brink of a century which, while not exactly confirming his Yorkshire team-mate Tim Bresnan’s boast that Bairstow could be better than Pietersen, helped England avoid a first-innings catastrophe and dragged them to a lead of six runs.
Bairstow knew the arrival of the second new ball might spell a swift end to England’s hopes of victory. He shrugged off the loss of Matt Prior to Vernon Philander’s first delivery with it and proceeded to mix watchful defence with clubbing aggression reminiscent of his late dad, David.
But the groan emitted by a capacity crowd when he walked across a full-length ball from Morne Morkel and was bowled five runs short will probably haunt him for the rest of his career.
They and his team-mates were waiting to cheer him to the rafters, especially as against the world’s most intimidating attack he had passed the kind of torrid examination he had failed so spectacularly against West Indies’ Kemar Roach earlier this summer.
Then he was sent back to county cricket to work on his game with little prospect of a quick return — until last week, that is.
The knotted eyebrows as he traipsed off told of his disappointment, but at least when he departed this time he left nobody in any doubt he would be back for more.
From 264-8, Graeme Swann (38 not out) managed to squeeze a further 51 runs from partnerships with James Anderson and Finn.
England’s hopes were raised when Graeme Smith swept against Swann’s spin and was lbw for 23 at 46 for one.
They jumped further when Alviro Petersen was trapped by Stuart Broad for 24 at 50 for two and they might have gone through the roof had Prior held on to a leg-side catch offered by Hashim Amla two balls previously.
But, by the time Amla had survived two strong appeals from Swann in successive balls to walk off unbeaten on 57 with the ball losing its hardness and the South Africa lead 139, the size of the task facing England was becoming clear.
With two days remaining and the pitch still offering turn, the odds against a draw must be lengthening, although South Africa will not feel too keen to set England a target to chase.