After all those talks of gaining psychological advantage and moral ground and etc, we got down to real action on the Boxing day Test at Kingsmead, Durban. Having rained in the last few days, the air was heavy and it looked certain that the team winning the toss would certainly choose to field but flowing away from the stream Smith won the toss and elected to bat on what looked a clear day
Anderson, England's best bowler in conditions prevailing started off in a positive manner by getting Smith to edge one to fine-leg and beating Prince all ends up off two consecutive deliveries. The way he beat Prince was an education to every budding bowler as he got it to pitch on the middle and made the ball to swerve away across him. Onions who shared the new-ball with Anderson showed the way to bowl to Smith as he pitched it on the good length and got the ball to move away and by the end of two overs South Africa looked like they had a task on hand. Anderson having softened Prince in the first over went on to claim his wicket by pitching it around the middle and off and just short of a length. Prince who normally tends to play with a short bat lift failed to gauge the bounce and ended up edging the ball to Swann at third slip
Meanwhile Amla was also being troubled by the early swing on the pitch. Smith put his head down for a hard day's work and looked ill at ease with deliveries pitched on the good length and swinging away from him. Till Onions was removed from the attack and replaced by Broad he collected 5 runs of 31 balls. Amla on the other hand looked comfortable with deliveries pitched on a good length as he came forward and defended it on the off side on each such attempt
Broad's introduction into the attack immediately got a wicket for England as he pitched one upto Amla who was looking to turn it away on the leg side and missed. He was struck right in front of the middle stump and looked a goner right from the word go as the Umpire had no hesitation in giving him out and did not take a long time too. Kallis strode to the wicket and immediately got off the mark by punching a drive to mid-on for a couple. Anderson got one to rise from a good length and hit Smith on the bottom hand as he was looking to take it off the handle. The knock was so hard that he was attended to by the physio. With this delivery it became apparent that Smith was having troubles countering the swing and was unable to judge the bounce. It was Broad who gave Smith a breather with a delivery on the legs which he clipped to deep midwicket. With the outfield having soaked up some water it was heavy and the ball did not run to the boundary. Instead the batsmen ran three. It was the only moment of joy for Smith in the first hour. All through this passage of play the most number of runs in an over were three and South Africa endured 14 boundary-less overs. Surprising, with Smith at the crease
Onions who replaced Anderson from the far end then proceeded to concede the boundary albeit as leg-byes and the crowd roared in relief. Kallis at the other end was oozing confidence and was raring to have a go as he cut a short delivery outside the off stump to point for the first boundary off the bat. To add to the effect , he pulled the next delivery to deep midwicket making it two out of two. Broad then tried to bluff Kallis by having a fielder in the deep and pitching it upto the batsman. Kallis refused to buy the bluff and kept on pushing the fuller deliveries to the off-side. Anderson returned back into the attack in the 20th over and immediately went on to gift a short delivery outside the off stump to Smith. It was a gift wrapped in wool for Smith as he cut it past the fielder at point for his first boundary
Swann was introduced into the attack in the 21st over and Kallis made his intentions clear in the very first over as he came down the track and looked to loft a delivery over long-on. He did not get enough wood on it and had to settle for a couple. Anderson strayed onto Smith's legs with not quite a short delivery but short enough for Smith to pull it away for a boundary. Swann then bowled a pathetic over as he bowled two deliveries down the leg stump. Smith obliged and swept them away past fine-leg for boundaries. Strauss by now was looking for another break-through and bought Trott into the attack just before lunch. Kallis and Smith handled the two overs before lunch with caution and saw to it that South africa went into lunch on an even keel
Immediately after lunch Swann, who beat Smith in his final over before lunch got Smith to drive one in the air. Unluckily for Swann it did not carry and he started his dominance on the batsmen in the middle with that delivery. The pace bowlers took their feet off the pedal and gave Smith run-scoring opportunities by pitching it on his legs. Smith helped himself to some easy runs and was breaking out of the prison. In fact Smith was so very good that he came well forward to the fuller deliveries in an attempt to smother the late swing and was able to do so successfully. Kallis on the other hand was not getting too many deliveries to face as Smith was hogging the strike. In the 32nd over. Kallis looking to drive on the off-side found an inside edge to fine-leg for a single. Smith was busy negotiating with Swann's deliveries and he helped himself to boundaries whenever Swann drifted
Broad came back to have another go at Kallis and have a go he did with shorter deliveries as Kallis ducked under the best ball Broad bowled in the session, comfortably. That did not sap Broad's spirits as he kept plugging away with short deliveries to Kallis. Smith on the other end was being tested by Swann. Swann even managed to induce an edge out of Smith's bat which struck Prior on the gloves and fell short of Collingwood at first slip. Finally Smith reached his half-century by turning a ball to fine-leg for a single. His effort consumed 138 balls but it was sheer thrill watching him play. Kallis was turned on by Trott's introduction into the attack as he unfurled the cover drives in full glory and drove at will almost. His half-century was bought up with a streaky edge to where first slip would have been
Smith too seemed to have survived a plumb shout for LBW in Swann's over but replays showed that he got a huge bottom edge onto the delivery. Onions was bought back pretty late into the attack as he started off with a fuller delivery and he was recepient to the shot of the day as Smith straight drove one past the mid-off fielder for an imperious boundary. Kallis then pulled the leather off with a pull shot and at this moment it looked like South Africa were taking the game away from England. Before Tea Strauss introduced KP into the attack and Prior welcomed him by saying"Come on People's champ". Some sense of humor that by Prior. Swann, who was plugging away at a line outside the off stump to Kallis from round the wicket finally managed to induce an edge out of him with one spinning away in the air and spinning into him after pitching on a good length. Kallis' shuffle was exaggerated and he was caught on the wrong foot for once as he ended up nicking one into the safe hands of Collingwood at first slip. AB de Villiers announced his entry in style as he came down the track and drove a delivery past mid-on for a boundary
He was also involved in a confusion with his skipper which ultimately led to Smith's demise as there was a lot of yes and no happening between them. He also was a viewer to Duminy's dismissal to a straight delivery on the middle stump. He expected it to swing a little more and was deceived by the delivery keeping it's line. Before bad light ended the day. AB cover drove a delivery with panache and was looking good to steady the rocking boat in company of Boucher
Overall it was a good day for England bowlers as they managed to sneak in five wickets. A just reward for good line and length bowling. They would be looking to wrap the innings up before South Africa reach 250. Second day's play holds a tantalising prospect
Anderson, England's best bowler in conditions prevailing started off in a positive manner by getting Smith to edge one to fine-leg and beating Prince all ends up off two consecutive deliveries. The way he beat Prince was an education to every budding bowler as he got it to pitch on the middle and made the ball to swerve away across him. Onions who shared the new-ball with Anderson showed the way to bowl to Smith as he pitched it on the good length and got the ball to move away and by the end of two overs South Africa looked like they had a task on hand. Anderson having softened Prince in the first over went on to claim his wicket by pitching it around the middle and off and just short of a length. Prince who normally tends to play with a short bat lift failed to gauge the bounce and ended up edging the ball to Swann at third slip
Meanwhile Amla was also being troubled by the early swing on the pitch. Smith put his head down for a hard day's work and looked ill at ease with deliveries pitched on the good length and swinging away from him. Till Onions was removed from the attack and replaced by Broad he collected 5 runs of 31 balls. Amla on the other hand looked comfortable with deliveries pitched on a good length as he came forward and defended it on the off side on each such attempt
Broad's introduction into the attack immediately got a wicket for England as he pitched one upto Amla who was looking to turn it away on the leg side and missed. He was struck right in front of the middle stump and looked a goner right from the word go as the Umpire had no hesitation in giving him out and did not take a long time too. Kallis strode to the wicket and immediately got off the mark by punching a drive to mid-on for a couple. Anderson got one to rise from a good length and hit Smith on the bottom hand as he was looking to take it off the handle. The knock was so hard that he was attended to by the physio. With this delivery it became apparent that Smith was having troubles countering the swing and was unable to judge the bounce. It was Broad who gave Smith a breather with a delivery on the legs which he clipped to deep midwicket. With the outfield having soaked up some water it was heavy and the ball did not run to the boundary. Instead the batsmen ran three. It was the only moment of joy for Smith in the first hour. All through this passage of play the most number of runs in an over were three and South Africa endured 14 boundary-less overs. Surprising, with Smith at the crease
Onions who replaced Anderson from the far end then proceeded to concede the boundary albeit as leg-byes and the crowd roared in relief. Kallis at the other end was oozing confidence and was raring to have a go as he cut a short delivery outside the off stump to point for the first boundary off the bat. To add to the effect , he pulled the next delivery to deep midwicket making it two out of two. Broad then tried to bluff Kallis by having a fielder in the deep and pitching it upto the batsman. Kallis refused to buy the bluff and kept on pushing the fuller deliveries to the off-side. Anderson returned back into the attack in the 20th over and immediately went on to gift a short delivery outside the off stump to Smith. It was a gift wrapped in wool for Smith as he cut it past the fielder at point for his first boundary
Swann was introduced into the attack in the 21st over and Kallis made his intentions clear in the very first over as he came down the track and looked to loft a delivery over long-on. He did not get enough wood on it and had to settle for a couple. Anderson strayed onto Smith's legs with not quite a short delivery but short enough for Smith to pull it away for a boundary. Swann then bowled a pathetic over as he bowled two deliveries down the leg stump. Smith obliged and swept them away past fine-leg for boundaries. Strauss by now was looking for another break-through and bought Trott into the attack just before lunch. Kallis and Smith handled the two overs before lunch with caution and saw to it that South africa went into lunch on an even keel
Immediately after lunch Swann, who beat Smith in his final over before lunch got Smith to drive one in the air. Unluckily for Swann it did not carry and he started his dominance on the batsmen in the middle with that delivery. The pace bowlers took their feet off the pedal and gave Smith run-scoring opportunities by pitching it on his legs. Smith helped himself to some easy runs and was breaking out of the prison. In fact Smith was so very good that he came well forward to the fuller deliveries in an attempt to smother the late swing and was able to do so successfully. Kallis on the other hand was not getting too many deliveries to face as Smith was hogging the strike. In the 32nd over. Kallis looking to drive on the off-side found an inside edge to fine-leg for a single. Smith was busy negotiating with Swann's deliveries and he helped himself to boundaries whenever Swann drifted
Broad came back to have another go at Kallis and have a go he did with shorter deliveries as Kallis ducked under the best ball Broad bowled in the session, comfortably. That did not sap Broad's spirits as he kept plugging away with short deliveries to Kallis. Smith on the other end was being tested by Swann. Swann even managed to induce an edge out of Smith's bat which struck Prior on the gloves and fell short of Collingwood at first slip. Finally Smith reached his half-century by turning a ball to fine-leg for a single. His effort consumed 138 balls but it was sheer thrill watching him play. Kallis was turned on by Trott's introduction into the attack as he unfurled the cover drives in full glory and drove at will almost. His half-century was bought up with a streaky edge to where first slip would have been
Smith too seemed to have survived a plumb shout for LBW in Swann's over but replays showed that he got a huge bottom edge onto the delivery. Onions was bought back pretty late into the attack as he started off with a fuller delivery and he was recepient to the shot of the day as Smith straight drove one past the mid-off fielder for an imperious boundary. Kallis then pulled the leather off with a pull shot and at this moment it looked like South Africa were taking the game away from England. Before Tea Strauss introduced KP into the attack and Prior welcomed him by saying"Come on People's champ". Some sense of humor that by Prior. Swann, who was plugging away at a line outside the off stump to Kallis from round the wicket finally managed to induce an edge out of him with one spinning away in the air and spinning into him after pitching on a good length. Kallis' shuffle was exaggerated and he was caught on the wrong foot for once as he ended up nicking one into the safe hands of Collingwood at first slip. AB de Villiers announced his entry in style as he came down the track and drove a delivery past mid-on for a boundary
He was also involved in a confusion with his skipper which ultimately led to Smith's demise as there was a lot of yes and no happening between them. He also was a viewer to Duminy's dismissal to a straight delivery on the middle stump. He expected it to swing a little more and was deceived by the delivery keeping it's line. Before bad light ended the day. AB cover drove a delivery with panache and was looking good to steady the rocking boat in company of Boucher
Overall it was a good day for England bowlers as they managed to sneak in five wickets. A just reward for good line and length bowling. They would be looking to wrap the innings up before South Africa reach 250. Second day's play holds a tantalising prospect
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