Strauss leads England reply

Bad light ends play early in Durban as England reach 103-1 on day two of the second Test.

Andrew Strauss
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Captain Strauss leads the charge for England on an overcast Durban day [AFP]

Andrew Strauss scored a confident half-century as England reached 103 for one when bad light ended play on the second day of the second Test against South Africa at Kingsmead.

Strauss’s 54 eased England’s blushes after a last-wicket stand of 56 from South Africa took them to 343 all out in their first innings.

The England left-hander’s total came off 67 balls and included nine fours.

Lights on

It was an overcast day and floodlights were on from the start of play in Durban.

Strauss was given out leg before wicket to Morne Morkel after tea before he had added to his score, surviving when he asked for a review and a replay showed a faint inside edge into his pads.

Strauss played only one more scoring stroke, a slash for four off Morkel, before the tall fast bowler forced him back onto his stumps and bowled him off an inside edge.

Morkel was easily South Africa’s best bowler, taking one for 22 in nine overs.

It was the second successive day on which a substantial amount of play was lost.

Fellow opener Alastair Cook made a slow start but then reached the close on 31 not out, while Jonathan Trott was not shy to play his strokes as he ended the day on 17.

Lively pitch

South Africa’s total seemed a good effort in conditions which had been expected to be favourable for bowlers.

Dale Steyn had scored an exuberant 47 as South Africa’s first innings came to a rousing end.

Captain Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers scored top-class half-centuries after South Africa had won the toss and elected to bat on a lively pitch.

England’s fast bowlers were unable to repeat the accuracy they produced on the first day when South Africa were made to battle for almost every run

Graeme Swann finished with four for 110 in 35 overs to take his year’s haul to 49 wickets in 12 Tests, second only to Australia’s Mitchell Johnson (58 in 13). But the off-spinner suffered heavy punishment from Steyn, who hit three sixes off him.

Seamer Jimmy Anderson was called into service and he had Steyn caught behind to end the innings 52 minutes after lunch.

De Villiers and Mark Boucher had resumed on Sunday morning on 175 for five.

Second day scorecard

 South Africa first innings 343 all out
(G Smith 75, J Kallis 75, A de Villiers 50)

England first innings
A Strauss b Morkel 54
A Cook not out 31
J Trott not out 17
Extras 1
Total (for one wicket; 26.2 overs) 103
Fall of wicket: 1-71

Bowling: Steyn 8.2-1-30-0, Ntini 3-0-25-0, Morkel 9-3-22-1,
Kallis 2-0-12-0 (nb-1), Harris 4-0-14-0.

De Villiers and Boucher took their sixth wicket stand to 63 off 102 balls before Boucher fell victim to the umpiring review system with 2.5 overs remaining before the second new ball.

Boucher stretched well forward to off-spinner Graeme Swann, with bat and pad close together.

Swann’s appeal for leg before wicket was turned down by umpire Amish Saheba, which before the introduction of technology would have been the logical decision.

But England sought a review and replays showed the ball would have hit just below the bails, so the decision was reversed and Boucher had to go.

De Villiers reached his 19th Test half-century but was dismissed for 50 before lunch caught behind by Matt Prior off Stuart Broad.

He made his runs off 98 balls with six fours.

Paul Harris was a second lbw victim of Swann, unsuccessfully seeking a reprieve by review after being given out.

Morne Morkel made a useful 23 before he was Swann’s fourth victim in the first over after lunch.

Steyn hit three sixes, all off Swann, as he and Ntini held the England bowlers at bay in a last wicket stand of 58.

Source: News Agencies