pdate: tea, day 3 sa v eng 2nd test for iol (Monday, Dec
28)
SA 1st innings 343. England 1st innings 281/3
Nothing happened for South Africa during the afternoon session of the second Castle Test at Kingsmead on Monday as Alastair Cook and Paul Collingwood extended their partnership to 126 as England whittled away their first innings deficit to just 62 runs with the visitors going into tea well placed on 281/3.
With the dry north-easterly wind beating in from the sea, the Kingsmead pitch was as flat as could be and the two England batsmen had few problems as they scored at just over three runs to the over. South Africa had seven overs with the second new ball late in the session without offering much menace.
If there was little beyond the shedding of sweat for the South African bowlers under a searing sun, England opener Alastair Cook was able to celebrate his 10th Test century when he drove Makhaya Ntini past mid-on for two. It was his third hundred this year, and maintained his good form against South Africa. Last year, when South Africa visited England, he struck a half-century in each of the four Tests.
It was a valuable innings for the visitors because England needed someone to play the kind of risk-free anchor role he provided. In the morning session, he went more or less strokeless for long periods, but gradually, as his confidence increased, he found more opportunities to score.
When he reached his hundred there were warm celebrations between him and his England teammates during the drinks break. The left-hander had been under some pressure ? it was his first hundred in seven Tests.
Cook had the ideal partner in the similarly-minded Collingwood who went to his 18th Test 50 shortly before tea. At the break, he was on 59 and Cook was on 115.
As for the South Africans, they had little option but to dig in, bowl in the right areas and hope for England mistakes, which were not forthcoming.
The pacemen bowled reasonably well, without posing much of a threat, but Paul Harris was disappointing, going for 73 runs in his 17 overs to date. Too often, the left-arm spinner bowled too short to Cook and Collingwood, offering them easy pickings off the back foot square of the wicket.