Ken Borland

Rain once again killed the action after England reached 37 without loss midway through the sixth over in the first NatWest One-Day International against South Africa at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Friday.

6th over – Clever batting now by Ian Bell as he steps outside off stump and flicks a shortish delivery from Lonwabo Tsotsobe over short fine leg for four.

5th over – Superb batting in the final batting powerplay over by Bell as he continues to come down the pitch, heaving Morne Morkel over midwicket for six and then driving him classically over long-off for another maximum.

4th over – Alastair Cook starts the next over in style as he drives Tsotsobe beautifully through the covers for four. Bell then comes down the pitch and drives the left-arm seamer sweetly over mid-off for another boundary.

3rd over – England are struggling to score and Cook pushes Morkel straight down the pitch and sets off for a suicidal single. Wayne Parnell gathers the ball just behind the bowler’s wicket, but his wild throw results in an astonishing run out miss from no more than five metres away with all three stumps to aim at! Cook was miles out and gets a major let-off before he had scored.

1st over – Play finally gets underway after a delay of four-and-three-quarter hours with a 24-overs-a-side match. Morkel’s first ball is a wide outside off stump and then the rain returns. There is another delay of nine minutes and an over is lost, reducing the game to 23 overs-a-side. Morkel completes his over well, not conceding another run.