England vs South Africa – 1st Test – Live Cricket Score and Match Update
England vs South Africa 1st Test – South Africa and Dale Steyn made a rampart start to proceedings on Day 2, claiming three quick wickets to halt England to 284 for 6 in the first hour of play at Kennington Oval, London, on July 20, 2012.
Having struggled with the ball on the opening day, the much hyped Proteas attack came out all guns blazing, reigniting the excitement which had been built before the commencement of the series.
Approvingly, the new found steam came from Steyn, who ran in and gave a telling display of his no.1 ranked Test bowling status, gunning down centurion Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara in successive overs.
Having been comfortably placed at 267 for 3 before the start, it seemed as the home side had to face an altogether different proposition in the Proteas assault. Already been bogged down in the final session of the first day’s play, which saw him failing to hit a boundary for 61 balls, Cook again came unstuck against a pumped up Steyn.
The pacer had already found movement and extra pace which ultimately undid the left-hander, whose expensive drive only resulted in a thick inside edge, with the ball crashing onto his stumps – ending an excellent 115-run effort.
The wicket brought in Ravi Bopara, another player keen to kick-start his Test career. However, he gave English management more questions than answers as his stay lasted just six balls and ended after he was caught unprepared by Steyn’s short-ball which he could only feather it behind to AB de Villiers.
Vernon Philander, his opening partner, also kept a probing line and length, which gave nothing to the English batters. Matt Prior then joined Ian Bell, and the first boundary of the day also arrived as Steyn offered width to the wicket-keeper batsman, who duly dispatched the ball past the backward point fielder.
Bell was offered a reprieve by Alviro Petersen, who failed to hit the stumps after showing good reflexes to save a certain boundary. However, South Africa did not had to wait longer for their third-wicket of the day as Jacques Kallis cleaned up the inform Bell after the player misjudged the ball and offered no stroke – leaving the English in plenty of trouble at 284 for 6.
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