England defied by rock-steady Kallis
I would rather be in Andrew Strauss's position than Smith's at the close of the first day
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
I would rather be in Andrew Strauss's position than Smith's at the close of the first day. With six South African wickets down, England just about shaded it, writes Nasser Hussain in the Daily Mail.
The only thing I would say is that I am not sure Andrew Strauss got his field settings exactly right when Swann was bowling to Kallis. The England captain could have toyed with him a bit more rather than sticking to the in and out field which allowed Kallis to accumulate without any undue risk. There is little point trying to be more patient than Kallis because he is never going to lose it and play a reckless shot.
Mike Selvey does not share that opinion. Writing in the Guardian, he says, "South Africa shaded it here today ... This does not promise to be a high-scoring match and should the South African bowlers fire, as they are due to do, it will require similar diligence from the England batsmen if they are to stay in touch."
In the Times, Mike Atherton says England simply have to make their first innings count.
For that to happen, England’s top six may care to look at Jacques Kallis who, amid the wreckage of South African batsmanship, has stood tall. Test match batsmen pride themselves on their ability to score runs in all situations, but first-innings runs, which often dictate the course of a game, are especially prized. Three times now he has prospered in the first innings of this series, a hundred in Pretoria followed by a half-century in Durban and now a hundred on his home turf.
Jacques Kallis never seems to deal in the trivial when the monumental will do and just when his team appeared to be ceding control on the opening day of the third Test, he restores their chances with an unbeaten hundred that keeps South Africa in the contest, for now, says Derek Pringle in the Telegraph.
When James Anderson dismissed Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, straight after lunch, it gave him his 150th Test wicket and elevated him into distinguished company. Only 18 other England bowlers had reached such a figure before and Anderson, at 27, has plenty of power to add, writes Simon Wilde in the Times.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo