South Africa 262/4 (day 1) at Centurion

South Africa versus England

Centurion, day 1 of the first Test

South Africa 262 for 4 at stumps

Report

Graeme Smith made his ninth Test duck after being put in to bat by his opposite number, Andrew Strauss, on a green pitch under blue skies at Centurion this morning.  He has now made more ducks as captain than any of his South African predecessors.

The South African team wore black armbands when batting today as a sign of respect to Smith’s family after the skipper’s grandfather passed away at the weekend.

When Amla fell to Onions to reduce the home side to 51 for two in the 21st over, Strauss would have felt that he made the right decision at the toss. But the truth was that, although the pitch was (and practically still is) as green as the Proteas’ ODI kit, it played beautifully all day.

The non-existence of forecast overhead clouds translated to a distinct lack of ball movement for the England attack and South Africa recovered well from 93 for three and 159 for four to end the day on 262 for four.

Jacques Kallis missed the ODI series through injury and was a doubtful starter for this Centurion Test but the all-rounder was declared fit to play. While he won’t be able to bowl in the match, his unbeaten back-to-back hundred (112, 203b, 16 fours and one six) was his 32nd Test century and a gem to watch.

Kallis and JP Duminy (38, 103b, four fours and one six) put on 103 runs in a chanceless fifth wicket partnership that saw South Africa wrestle a firm grip over the early stages of this match. Duminy was every bit as patient as he was classy as he stood back and supported his senior batting partner.

Amazingly, South Africa have not played a single Test match since they beat Australia in a dead rubber in Cape Town earlier this year. In that match, his most recent appearance for his country as he is not in the ODI setup, Ashwell Prince Prince made 150 runs. Today he managed a score of 45 runs before he was out to Graeme Swann’s second delivery – the opener had done a fine job of taking the shine off the new ball.

Swann (two for 61) was the pick of the English bowlers and while Onions (1 for 53) had a very good early spell, the English bowling wasn’t much to write home about. However, they did well to restrict South Africa to under 270 runs in 90 overs.

Quotes

Ashwell Prince

“There have been a lot of one day cricket and twenty twenties and I have really been excited about this series.”

The wicket been undercover for a few days – we knew there would be a bit of moisture around. But the guys who play here felt it was good enough to bat first.”

“Yesterday I was the only player in the team meeting who said that I would prefer not to have a referral system but ironically I was the one who benefited from it today when I was given out LBW and it was overturned.”

Graeme Swann

“The fact we have conceded under three runs per over is a big positive we can take from the day.”

“We are fully aware that some kinds of decisions are hard to be overturned.”

“Having seen the wicket and the stats, we were well within our rights to bowl first”.

“The first day in the field is always a tough one, especially under the South African sun.”