England reply on solid foundation
Maybe the crowd had been given warning
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Maybe the crowd had been given warning. Little more than a hardened rump turned up for a day during which entertainment took second place to position-building, writes Mike Atherton in the Times.
... England needed all their resolve to get through the final session of the day relatively unscathed. That they did so was down to Andrew Strauss, at his imperturbable best and probably feeling as though he owed the team some runs after his decision at the toss, and Jonathan Trott, promoted to No 3, who suggested that the confidence shown in him after only one Test match is not misplaced.
England gave the newish ball to Graham Onions on the second morning and Nasser Hussain, writing in the Daily Mail hopes they continue giving the new ball to him.
What South African sportsmen tend to do is battle and you could see that quality beginning to blaze as the second day of the first Test match eventually entered a potentially decisive phase, writes James Lawton in the Independent.
Really it was hard to know quite who was playing for the highest personal stakes as Ntini's large personal following sang and danced as he raced to the wicket when he was called up again by his captain Graeme Smith for a fresh assault in the last few overs. His assignment was to break the partnership of Strauss and Jonathan Trott – Cape Town-born Trott this is – as they fought to repair the damage of the early loss of opener Alastair Cook.
It was hard work for Graeme Swann, but at least he gleaned some reward for his toil: five wickets from 45.2 overs on a pitch, which on the eve of the match was deemed to be a seamers' paradise. Then some sages queried whether a spinner was necessary at all, says Vic Marks in the Guardian.
Andrew Strauss is the kind of man who likes to make good his mistakes and while he still has some way to achieving that in this Test, following his decision to bowl first, you could sense his determination as he kept South Africa’s bowlers at bay on Thursday evening after their batsmen had racked up a first-innings total of 418, writes Derek Pringle in the Telegraph.
Until the last hour or so, when Makhaya Ntini, fuelled by the adrenaline of his one 100th Test appearance and the noisy support of the Centurion crowd, let rip at the England openers with the new ball, it had been a desultory day of Test cricket, says Mike Selvey in the Guardian.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo