The day was South Africa’s
The day was South Africa’s as they finished the second day on 86 for one in the first test against England at the Oval in London on Friday.
34th over – Medium-pacer Ravi Bopara comes on and nearly makes the breakthrough! Hashim Amla, on 40, drives hard off the back foot, there is extra bounce and Andrew Strauss, at first slip, moves late, perhaps waiting for wicketkeeper Matt Prior to go, flings up his left hand but gets only fingertips to the ball as it races to the boundary.
30th over – Tim Bresnan tries to bounce Graeme Smith, but the South African captain is on to it quickly, hooking the ball through square-leg for four.
29th over – Jimmy Anderson strays on to the leg side and Amla flicks him neatly through midwicket for four.
24th over – Back of a length and straight from Tim Bresnan but Amla shows great skill as he punches the ball to the right of mid-on for four runs.
20th over – Stuart Broad comes around the wicket to Graeme Smith and presents him with a full delivery, angling in, and the left-hander clips the ball easy-as-you-like through wide mid-on for four.
12th over – Just a single over from Broad is possible after tea as rain starts to fall heavily. A trademark work off his hips gives Smith two runs and takes South Africa to 27 for one. Play resumes after a delay of one hour, 46 minutes.
Afternoon session
Graeme Smith was clearly desperate to succeed in his 100th Test as he steered South Africa to 25 for one at tea on the second day of the first Test against England at the Oval in London on Friday.
11th over – Lovely batting by Hashim Amla as he punches successive deliveries from Jimmy Anderson through the covers for four.
7th over – Dark clouds hovering about and some spittings of rain … umpires confer but decide play can continue. Anderson beats Smith outside the off stump … But the focused left-hander celebrating his 100th test then whips the swing bowler from middle-and-leg to fine leg for four!
6th over – Typical Smith as Stuart Broad pitches on middle-and-off and the left-hander shovels him through midwicket for four!
3rd over – WICKET – Anderson makes the early strike with a superb in-swinging delivery that comes back a mile to hit Alviro Petersen on the back leg and trap him lbw for a duck.
South African fast bowler Morne Morkel ended the England first innings on 385 when he took two wickets in an over on the second day of the first Test at the Oval in London on Friday.
126th over – Morkel wraps up the innings in his second over back. WICKET – Matt Prior drives away from his body again, but there is extra bounce and he ends up edging the ball to wicketkeeper AB de Villiers. Prior scored 60 off 90 balls, with nine fours – nicely played, and a very handy innings for England. WICKET – Jimmy Anderson is out for two as he flaps at a short-pitched, leg-side delivery from Morkel, getting a scratch through to give De Villiers his fifth catch.
125th over – Imran Tahir is back but Graeme Swann handles him well, a well-struck sweep shot bringing him four runs.
123rd over – Good shot by Swann as Dale Steyn drops short and he pulls him through midwicket for four. Two balls later, Swann drives, ball under the eyes, through extra cover for another well-played boundary.
120th over – Prior brings up a crucial half-century for England as he punches Vernon Philander beautifully straight down the ground for his ninth boundary. The wicketkeeper/batsman has been at the crease for two hours and faced 75 balls. WICKET – But Philander then produces a superb delivery that comes back a long way from over the wicket to bowl Stuart Broad through the gate for 16, the ball again just clipping the bail.
119th over – 350 up for England as Broad stands tall and drives a back-of-a-length delivery from Steyn, off the back foot, through the covers for four.
118th over – Prior has come out after lunch full of attacking intent and he forcefully drives Philander off the back foot, wide of gully, for four more runs.
117th over – Steyn is back on from the Vauxhall Rd End but Prior drives him square of the wicket for four – a fine, compact shot with great timing.
116th over – Play is delayed for 10 minutes after lunch by light rain and Philander ends the first over after the break by over-pitching and being driven crisply through mid-off for four by Prior.
Morning session
South Africa stated their intentions clearly with the ball as they reduced England to 326 for seven at lunch on the second day of the first Test at the Oval in London on Friday.
115th over – Well that’s a waste of the final review. Stuart Broad pushes forward to Imran Tahir, the leg-spinner turns the ball into the front pad and appeals confidently for lbw. Broad has surely been struck outside the line though, which the replay confirms.
114th over – Wow! Broad powers a drive on the up, through the covers for four off Vernon Philander.
112th over – Philander returns and swings the ball back into Broad, striking the left-hander in line with leg stump. The appeal is turned down by Asad Rauf, South Africa call for the review, but the replay shows the ball is only just clipping leg stump – fair decision.
111th over – Tahir is brought on and breaks the threatening partnership in his first over! WICKET – Tim Bresnan (8) tries to slash a short delivery turning away from him, but can only bottom-edge the ball into the ground and back on to his stumps.
110th over – Short and wide from Morne Morkel and Matt Prior dispatches it handsomely through the covers for four.
109th over – Jacques Kallis dishes up the full away-swinger and Bresnan accepts the invitation to drive, lambasting the ball superbly through the covers for four. After four successive maidens and 27 balls, those are the first runs Kallis has conceded today!
108th over – Dropped! Prior, on 17, drives Morkel off the back foot, but the ball comes off the outside half of the bat, flying to gully, where Jacques Rudolph drops a sharp chance lunging low to his right.
106th over – Morkel has overdone the short ball today and Prior hammers a pull over midwicket for four.
101st over – Kallis replaces Dale Steyn after an outstanding burst of 5-2-8-2. And the great all-rounder strikes with his fourth ball! WICKET – Ian Bell (13) has faced a couple of away-swingers and now he leaves another delivery, but this time it’s the in-swinger and it just trims the off-bail, causing to gently topple from the stumps …
100th over – This time it’s a genuine edge for four between the slips and gully for Prior as he drives at Philander.
99th over – Prior has just survived a probing over from Philander and now he flashes Steyn through backward point in rather flamboyant fashion for four. He repeats the stroke to the next ball and immediately sets off for a run, but this time Alviro Petersen has made a brilliant diving stop at third slip. Both batsmen are stranded in the middle of the pitch, Petersen has a shy at the stumps but misses!
95th over – WICKET – Steyn has a close lbw appeal against Ravi Bopara turned down, but the next ball is a bouncer, the batsman shapes to hook, then tries to withdraw the bat, but is too slow and the ball finds the edge and goes through to wicketkeeper AB de Villiers. Bopara out for a duck!
93rd over – WICKET – Alastair Cook’s footwork is still a bit sluggish early in the day and he goes hard at a drive off Steyn. The ball swings back in, finds the inside edge and rockets into the stumps! Cook bowled for a mighty fine 115 off 295 balls.
92nd over – Encouraging signs for South Africa as Philander gets some early movement, rapping Cook on the pads, but it’s too high, appeal turned down.