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| England batsman Andrew Strauss misses a ball from South African bowler Albie Morkel (unseen) during the third day of the fourth Test match between South Africa and England on January 16, 2010 at Liberty Life Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. AFP PHOTO |
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 16, 2010 (AFP) - South Africa's fast bowlers struck three times in England's second innings as the home team pushed for a series-levelling victory on the third day of the fourth and final Test at the Wanderers Stadium on Saturday.England were reeling at 48 for three when bad light stopped play, still 195 runs short of avoiding an innings defeat.
Morne Morkel had Alastair Cook caught at first slip by Graeme Smith in the fourth over and Dale Steyn produced a superb delivery which swung away late and caused Jonathan Trott to edge a catch to AB de Villiers at third slip.
The umpires took the players off for bad light with the total on 22 for two but they were soon back for another half hour of play during which new cap Wayne Parnell trapped England captain Andrew Strauss leg before wicket shortly before the day's third and final stoppage.
South Africa earlier declared after piling up 423 for seven in their first innings.
De Villiers and Mark Boucher shared an attacking century partnership with De Villiers riding his luck to make 58 before a thunderstorm hit the ground 50 minutes after lunch.
But the storm passed and South Africa were able to take giant strides towards squaring a series they trail 1-0.
Boucher hit a sparkling 95 off 118 balls, falling short of his sixth Test century when he top-edged a sweep against off-spinner Graeme Swann and was caught at deep backward square leg.
It was the second time in the innings that Swann had taken a wicket with the first ball of a spell and the 16th time in as many Test matches that he had struck in the first over of a spell.
But Swann was out of luck when he twice won appeals against De Villiers from umpire Tony Hill only for the decisions to be overturned on review.
To add to England's miseries with the review system, they wasted a review when Swann sought a leg before wicket decision against Boucher, then saw De Villiers get away with what seemed a clear inside edge to wicketkeeper Matt Prior off Ryan Sidebottom.Because England had used up both their reviews - including the controversial review of the decision that saw Graeme Smith escape dismissal on Friday - they could not seek to get Steve Davis' not out decision reversed.
England used up one of their second innings batting reviews when Strauss tried unsuccessfully to challenge Hill's lbw decision shortly before play ended for the day.
De Villiers and Boucher put on 120 for the sixth wicket, scoring at four runs an over, after three wickets fell early in the day.
While De Villiers was not entirely convincing, Boucher was in excellent form as he made his third half-century of the series.
Only two runs had been added when overnight batsmen Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis were dismissed in successive overs, to be followed by JP Duminy.
Amla edged the tenth ball of the day from Stuart Broad for Prior to take a diving catch. Kallis followed in the next over when a ball from Ryan Sidebottom lifted more sharply than expected and an attempted pull looped to gully where James Anderson dived to hold a good catch.
Duminy's troubles against Swann continued when he was beaten by the flight and sharp spin to edge the off-spinner's first ball of the day to slip. It was the third time i
the series he had been out to Swann in similar circumstances, twice caught at slip and once by the wicketkeeper.
Scoreboard
England, first innings, 180
South Africa, first innings (overnight 215-2)
G. Smith c Strauss b Sidebottom 105
A. Prince c Swann b Broad 19
H. Amla c Prior b Broad 75
J. Kallis c Anderson b Sidebottom 7
A. de Villiers c Collingwood b Broad 58
J. Duminy c Collingwood b Swann 7
M. Boucher c Trott b Swann 95
R. McLaren not out 33
D. Steyn not out 1
Extras (b8, lb9, nb1, w5) 23
Total (7 wkts dec, 119 overs, 531 mins) 423
Fall of wickets: 1-36 (Prince), 2-201 (Smith), 3-217 (Amla), 4-217 (Kallis), 5-235 (Duminy), 6-355 (De Villiers), 7-419 (Boucher)
Did not bat: M. Morkel, W. Parnell
Bowling: Anderson 30-4-111-0 (nb1), Sidebottom 31-6-98-2, Broad 29-4-83-3 (w1), Swann 23-0-93-2, Collingwood 6-1-21-0
England, second innings
A. Strauss lbw b Parnell 22
A. Cook c Smith b Morkel 1
J. Trott c De Villiers b Steyn 8
K. Pietersen not out 9
P. Collingwood not out 0
Extras (lb4, nb3, w1) 8
Total (3 wkts, 13.2 overs) 48
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Cook), 2-21 (Trott), 3-48 (Strauss)
To bat: I. Bell, M. Prior, S. Broad, G. Swann, R. Sidebottom, J. Anderson
Bowling:
Steyn 5.2-0-18-1, Morkel 6-2-21-1 (nb3, w1), Parnell 2-0-5-1 |
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