Andy Jalil reporting from Headingley - In association with Investec © Pakistan Cricket Website

England v South Africa, 2nd Test, 2nd day

In association with Investec.

Leeds - Rain brought an early end to the second day's play with 22 overs still remaining. Just eighteen overs had been bowled from which Andrew Strauss with 19 and Alastair Cook on 20 took the total to 48 without loss when bad light stopped play. Any chance of resuming was soon ended with rain falling steadily and England 371 behind on the first innings.

Facing another good South Africa total, albeit not quite matching their colossal score in their previous innings in the first Test, England began their reply after tea. Strauss and Cook both looked comfortable, picking up runs steadily from the four pace bowlers particularly off Vernon Philander who was driven to the mid-off boundary by Strauss and also flicked for four. Strauss later took a four off Dale Steyn with a perfect straight drive from a ball of full length. Steyn also conceded a boundary to Cook who flicked him to fine leg and then cut Philander for four.

Earlier, intent on holding the innings together after losing two quick wickets shortly before close of play on the previous evening, South Africa were content with defensive batting on resuming their innings on 262 for five. Alviro Petersen, on 124, seemed set for another long knock while Jacques Rudolph was happy to simply occupy the crease. The first eight overs produced just four runs and the first boundary wasn't struck until the ninth over.

Rudolph’s first scoring shot came in the tenth over with a boundary off Stuart Broad who had also conceded a four in the same over to Petersen which took him to 136. It was slow going from South Africa batsmen with Rudolph at one stage facing 22 balls before scoring a run. It took 139 balls to bring up the fifty of their partnership of which Rudolph had 14 from 65 balls. Petersen meanwhile scored steadily, he took eight runs off an over from Steve Finn including a boundary which took him to 144 and then brought up the 150 of his innings from 330 balls.

The stand was finally broken a quarter of an hour before lunch when the England captain brought on the occasional off spinner Kevin Pietersen and the move proved a success straightaway. Rudolph stretched well forward to the second ball and was a fraction out of his crease to be stumped. The third umpire had to have a long look before giving his decision. It had been a patient innings with Rudolph taking 68 balls to add 18 runs to his overnight score of one. That was 318 for six and eighteen runs later was the break for lunch with Petersen on 170.

A lovely late cut from Petersen off Broad for the last of his twenty boundaries took him to 176 in the second over after lunch and England eventually claimed his wicket half an hour into the second session when a ball from Broad moved away late taking the outside edge. Umpire Rod Tucker had turned down the appeal but England asked for a review and it showed a clear edge. His 182 runs had come from 365 balls and spanned a shade under nine hours.

It had been an innings that South Africa certainly needed as the next highest score was just 52. Petersen had provided the stability in consolidating the innings and it was owing to his superb innings that South Africa eventually reached a good total of 419. There wasn’t much to come from the rest of the batting order with the exception of JP Duminy's innings.

He batted for two and a quarter hour guiding the lower order which added 66 runs. Duminy struck six boundaries, the last of which was a powerful cut off Broad which took him to an unbeaten 48 from 94 balls. Finn, Broad and Anderson then took one each of the last three wickets to bring an end to the innings. Broad finished with three for 96.

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
Copyright © 2012 Andy Jalil)