http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 tour of England - 1st Test - Day 1 – Live Score and Update
England 267/3 (90.0 ov) v South Africa - England won the toss and elected to bat
The much hyped Test series between hosts England and the charismatic South Africa finally got underway on Thursday, July 19, with England batting first and dominating the tourists as they managed to post 267 runs on the board for the loss of three wickets, at stumps on the first day of play, at Kennington Oval, London.
After winning the toss, England chose to bat first, but were rattled by the Proteas on losing their skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/M-Morkel-c73528 from South Africa grabbed the first wicket of the day on the fourth delivery of the opening over.
This was a big blow for the home team, and a major boost for South Africa’s confidence, who might have been under pressure coming into the series, after being labelled the weaker side.
With the demise of an early wicket, it was then time for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/IJL-Trott-c1576 to forge a wall against the raging South African bowling attack to prevent the fall of more wickets.
This stand was vital for the home team, as another quick wicket would have put enormous pressure on the hosts and could have sunk them in a place from where coming out might just have been a tad too difficult.
However, the two batsmen came through and hammered the bowlers all around the park, without taking too many risks.
The consistent flow of runs actually shifted the epicentre of pressure on the South Africans, who were growing impatiently desperate for another wicket.
Finally with 170 runs on the board, the daunting partnership met its last on the wicket of Trott, who fell after clobbering a well tamed knock of 71 runs.
With Trott back in the pavilion, it was time for star middle-order batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806 to take the field, and after being left out from the World T20 squad, the batsman had a thing or two to prove as he looked determined to pull a big innings.
The combination of Cook and Pietersen became another matter of great concern for the South Africans as the batsmen, took the score to 251 runs, before Pietersen lost his ways after crafting an innings of 42 runs.
Meanwhile, thanks to a resounding innings of 114 by Cook, England were put in a dominating position as they ended the day.
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