**Official** South Africa in England 2012

[Stumpcam]

Lovely cover drive from Bell to get off the mark.

Beautiful shot.

 

[Jacknife]

Tbf all 3 wickets have been pretty soft dismissals.

 

[Jarquis]

Not a bad little pull there either

 

[Manee]

Well Australia were the same for donkeys years so you know how the rest of us felt now.

Maybe its because I was younger, but I found Australia more entertaining.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Safe to say SA will improve with the ball over the series but in a short series with the summer we have had there is a fair chance they will rue today's display.

If we win this match I wouldn't be surprised if we had 2 roads prepared for the remaining tests as our attack is just is likely to do damage on a good track with reverse swing as a pitch with some juice in it.

Bell to ton up tomorrow and Swanny to bowl us to victory on Day 5.

 

[Stumpcam]

A good day of Test cricket, but England will be the happier of the two teams. A couple of sessions tomorrow and we should have a big total behind us.

England's to lose now methinks.

 

[Jacknife]

Very good day for England but could have been better if you were being really critical, Cook though WAG

 

[grecian]

Yeah, decent day, but it's 450 minimum, so still all to play for, a great spell from vern or dale and it could all change.

 

[Psycho Macaque]

I ent gonna lie, I thought England were going to get rolled.... but Cook and Trott showed why I should have more faith. Great of Cook in particular. What a great man.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

I ent gonna lie, I thought England were going to get rolled.... but Cook and Trott showed why I should have more faith. Great of Cook in particular. What a great man.

Never thought we would after the way Fulton was slagging off the Saffers last week. They are underdone, we should win this from here and SA then have to play very well to get back in it.

 

[GIMH]

I've only seen one ball today and it was Strauss getting out.

Don't think I'll bother watching any more of this series

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

Dominating day by England by the context of this huge series; it would have been nice to see some devastating spells by Steyn which would set up the series greatly from neutral perspective

 

[hazsa19]

Good day for us, but we shouldn't be counting any chickens yet (I know the players aren't).

We haven't got away from the Saffers and you would think 400 would be minimum required. I'm off to the Oval tomorrow, please let the weather behave

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Good day for us, but we shouldn't be counting any chickens yet (I know the players aren't).

We haven't got away from the Saffers and you would think 400 would be minimum required. I'm off to the Oval tomorrow, please let the weather behave

Pretty sweet. Hope it turns out well for you.

Steyn needs to keep his mouth shut in the future.

 

[amanuensis]

Just saw Pietersen's dismissal - poor frankly. I've said it before, but Bell should be batting ahead of him - it seems a terrible waste to have someone averaging over 70 since Boxing Day 2009 pissing about down at five or six.

 

[benjy]

Good first day for England. They certainly had to work hard on a pitch and conditions that had something in it for the batsman and bowlers, hence the slow run rate.
I don't think you can properly judge the pitch or any total the English batsman make, until both sides have batted and bowled.

 

[Jacknife]

Just saw Pietersen's dismissal - poor frankly. I've said it before, but Bell should be batting ahead of him - it seems a terrible waste to have someone averaging over 70 since Boxing Day 2009 pissing about down at five or six.

Don't get this, why is it a waste if he comes in a place lower, apart from that bell is not a better player anyway, so he's alright were he is and in the time you mention we have climbed up the rankings to the top spot so it's working for us. Maybe one of the reason's Bell's done alright of late is because he's coming in down the order.

Lets be right about this it was a pretty rank bouncer going down leg side, 9 out of 10 times he would have smashed it to the boundary and Trott's dismissal wasn't any better.

 

[amanuensis]

Don't get this, why is it a waste if he comes in a place lower, apart from that bell is not a better player anyway, so he's alright were he is and in the time you mention we have climbed up the rankings to the top spot so it's working for us. Maybe one of the reason's Bell's done alright of late is because he's coming in down the order.

Lets be right about this it was a pretty rank bouncer going down leg side, 9 out of 10 times he would have smashed it to the boundary and Trott's dismissal wasn't any better.

That's very generous of you - I'd say averaging over 70 (as of tonight) over your last 40 test innings counts as something a tad better than "doing alright", but I suppose someone will want to debate that. His best batting in that time was probably at Trent Bridge last summer, ie. not down the order.

 

[Burgey]

Yeah, decent day, but it's 450 minimum, so still all to play for, a great spell from vern or dale and it could all change.

 

[amanuensis]

That's very generous of you - I'd say averaging over 70 (as of tonight) over your last 40 test innings counts as something a tad better than "doing alright", but I suppose someone will want to debate that. His best batting in that time was probably at Trent Bridge last summer, ie. not down the order.

On the other hand Pietersen has served up lots of cameos, but only 4 tons, meaning that Bell has often been left stranded, either unbeaten or caught hitting out for quick runs with the remnants of the tail.