Series squared in all but name

England's long unbeaten run is all but over after another woeful performance in Cape Town.

They need to bat out the last day with only 5 wickets left after the early morning success with the ball was countered by another poor effort with the bat.

The day had started brightly for the visitors as Andrew Flintoff removed Boeta Dippenaar with the second ball of the day, Michael Vaughan taking the catch, but Graeme Smith showed that his side weren't going to be batting in the same slow fashion that marred the last 40 minutes of the 3rd day by promoting Nico Boje to number 6, but the experiment didn't last long, as he was run out by Vaughan for just 4.

Hashim Amla was next in, but a mix-up meant that Kallis was stranded, and the 3rd wicket of the morning was another run out - in truth it looked the only way that England would dismiss the star batsman, such was his dominance, although having used up 134 balls for only 66 runs in this situation was not the best effort from the team's point of view.

Still they batted on, but still the wickets fell, although Geraint Jones dropped Amla off Harmison, the Durham paceman picked up a wicket with his next ball, as AB de Villiers hooked him to Ashley Giles. Jones then made amends by catching Amla off his namesake Simon and suddenly 5 wickets had gone down for 35 runs, but there was no declaration even though the batsman coming in was Makhaya Ntini.

Nobody can be sure of his exact reasoning as to why, but Smith wanted a 500 run lead, and with the time left in the game, he made sure they got to it before declaring leaving England the small matter of 167 overs to survive.

Marcus Trescothick lasted exactly 2 balls of that time before hitting Shaun Pollock straight to Amla close in on the off side, a fine field pre-determined placing that reaped rewards instantly.

A disastrous start for England, and with Robert Key coming in on a pair, the thoughts were already the possibility of a day off, but Key was far more resilient this time, and with Strauss, he dug in for over 2 hours, although the runs scored were minimal. The pair had batted for 32 overs in adding 68 before they were finally parted, although the decision by Steve Bucknor left a lot to be desired, as not only did the ball appear to pitch outside the off stump, but the sheer fact that Strauss hit the ball suggested he was playing a shot. Still, Strauss had gone for 39, Boje had a wicket, and the captain was needed to lead from the front.

It took him 18 balls before he even scored a run, as the runs continued to come at a very slow trickle, but again the pair were hard to split, as they batted for 20 overs in an hour and a half before a complete rush of blood to Key's head occurred. After making his way to 41, he lost his patience and came down the wicket to try and hit Boje out of the park, but the flaw in his plan was that he missed the ball, and de Villiers was able to stump him - a stupid shot when England were beginning to have hope of getting to the close only 2 down.

In fact, by the next over they were 4 down, as Vaughan finally managed to get into the 20s before a poor shot saw a simple catch for Jacques Rudolph off Ntini and the remaining batsman list was rapidly diminishing.

With just Thorpe, Flintoff, Geraint Jones and the bowlers, it would take a super-human effort of concentration, and to his credit, Flintoff was able to curb his natural game for more than an hour, but with only 20 minutes left in the day, Pollock returned and immediately struck, a defensive prod from the Lancashire man getting the finest of edges through to de Villiers and at 146-5 the game was firmly in the grip of the home side.

Jones did manage to bat out the last 5 overs with Thorpe, but with 90 overs and potentially 2 new balls if required (although if South Africa still haven't picked up the last 5 men within 83 overs they may very well be despairing anyway) - realistically only one result is possible.

To add to England's woe, Flintoff has strained his side, and his participation in the tour is rumoured to be in doubt. What started so promisingly is now looking like another false dawn.

SOUTH AFRICA 441
Kallis 148, Boje 76, Smith 74, Flintoff 4-79.
ENGLAND 163
Strauss 45, Langeveldt 5-46, Ntini 4-50.
SOUTH AFRICA 222-8d
Kallis 66, Dippenaar 44.
ENGLAND 151-5
Key 41.

Posted by Marc