[ Post New Message | Post Reply to this One | Send Private Email to Cathy | Help ]

Cricket

from Cathy (cathyvpreece@aol.com)

Financial Times

South Africans open in commanding style

By Rob Steen at The Oval
Published: September 4 2003 19:45 | Last Updated: September 4 2003 19:45

Requiring victory to square a compelling series, England began poorly and deteriorated rapidly here on Thursday as Graeme Smith's combative side dug the foundations for a total that ought to insure against defeat.

England regard this ancient venue as a talisman - the Ashes were regained here in 1926, 1953 and 1985 - but history was treated with derision.

On the sort of pitch where batsmen can book themselves in for bed and breakfast and linger for lunch and tea, the home attack laboured long and hard without much threat and even fewer rewards as Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten, a contrasting duo of dash and phlegm, added 227 for the second wicket - a record for any wicket by South Africa at Kennington.

England skipper Michael Vaughan ran out his counterpart with an agile dive in the 15th over but otherwise fielded with the forlorn air of a captain who suspects his team's fate was sealed as soon as the toss was lost. He must have been sorely tempted to put in an SOS call to the nearby offices of MI5. So commanding was Gibbs, however, even the secret service might have had difficult spooking him out.

Not until the 69th over, when Ashley Giles pinned Kirsten lbw with the left-hander 10 short of his third century of the series, did a bowler have cause for anything but self-reproach and rage. The left-arm spinner, whose summons for the 13th over highlighted James Anderson's fatigue-induced shortcomings, also disposed of Gibbs for 183, bowled via an inelegant swipe.

But England's seamers would have sent down 60 joyless overs had Anderson not removed Neil McKenzie with the last ball of the day. By this time the boundary count ran to 58 fours and two sixes.

Steve Harmison, recalled in place of the injured James Kirtley, occasionally discomfited Gibbs with steep bounce. But he often bowled, mysteriously, with just one slip, thus blunting his threat. Anderson pitched too short; Andy Flintoff lacked his usual direction and control; Martin Bicknell was a restraining influence and no more.

Not that Gibbs could be contained. Since making 179 in the first innings of the series he had failed to reach 50. But few sights in the modern game raise the hairs on the nape of the neck quite so effectively as the so-called "Mayor of Cape Town" in full flow, and amends were made with surefooted inevitability.

When he completed the 10th century of his Test career, a vibrant affair characterised by crisp cover drives and deft glances, no fewer than 86 of those runs had come in boundaries. All told, he struck 35 fours and a six off 258 balls, with not a dull moment in between.

England's haplessness was confirmed 15 minutes before tea. Gibbs, who had scaled three figures in the previous over, collected three fours and a two off Anderson while being missed twice, albeit off half-chances. The first fumble was Bicknell's, sprinting determinedly but vainly away from mid-on, the second by Mark Butcher, reacting late to a rasping cut at point: his eighth such mishap of the rubber.

The fielding continued to sag, irrefutable evidence of a tired and troubled unit. In one over Vaughan twice let the ball through his hands; another shot went clean through Harmison's legs, and when Jacques Kallis, on 15, nicked Giles, the offering completely eluded Graham Thorpe at first slip. The South African all-rounder promptly rubbed it in, lofting an immense six into the pavilion.

As for England's wicketkeeper Alec Stewart, at 40 winning his 133rd and final Test cap of his career on the ground he has called home for two decades, his contributions came at either end of the day. He removed the bails to complete Smith's dismissal and caught McKenzie. The final curtain for him and England, however, may drop far sooner here than they both would wish.

(posted 7510 days ago)

[ Previous | Next ]