GRAHAM THORPE may be the veteran of the England side but he skipped like a spring lamb after completing the century that consolidated his side’s remarkable recovery in the second Test against South Africa and gave them the chance to push for an extraordinary ninth successive victory.
Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss launched the comeback with their opening partnership of 273, Andrew Flintoff and Geraint Jones crowned it with some spectacular strokeplay against a wilting attack, but it was what Thorpe did at the other end that prevented South Africa from regaining the initiative.
England, who had started the fourth day 88 runs ahead at 281 for one, were plunging back into trouble when they lost three wickets for 21, including that of Strauss who added only four to his overnight 132 and was left 29 runs short of 1,000 in his first nine Tests.
The lead was still only 121 with six wickets in hand but Thorpe, 35, has faced bigger crises than that on and off the field during his 12 years in Test cricket and he simply steeled himself to stay at the crease until England had batted South Africa out of the game.
Flintoff, batting with rare restraint but still hitting three sixes and six fours, scored 60 out of 114 for the fifth wicket, an uninhibited Jones, with two sixes and ten fours, made 73 out of 132 for the sixth wicket, but it was Thorpe who was still there when the declaration came at 570 for seven.
By then, he had been batting for more than five fours in the sweltering heat, faced 209 balls and scored 118 priceless runs. And when England finished the day with the scalp of Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, under their belts and his side still 357 runs away from an unlikely victory, it was Thorpe who was applauded off the field by his team-mates.
“It was hugely satisfying to play a knock like that,” he said. “The match was definitely in the balance because we were effectively 121 for four an hour and a half before lunch so we had to put our hands up and it was great to see the character of the side come through.
“The partnerships with Freddie (Flintoff) and Geraint were really important. They took the momentum away from South Africa and enabled us to build a good lead and give ourselves a great chance tomorrow. If you look at the psychology of the game, we were down if not quite out at the end of the first half and we knew that we had to do something special to turn the game around. And I think the team have done something special.”
It is a significant aspect of Thorpe’s career that no matter how little practice he has had or how indifferent his form seems to be he invariably scores runs in Test cricket when England need them most. He went into this Test with scores of 0, 11, 4 and 23 not out behind him but called on all his experience to make his sixteenth century in his 95th Test.
“I didn’t have runs under my belt so it was great to be able to do it again for the team in that type of situation,” he said. “I suppose it’s just set up and somebody’s got to do something. Maybe as I’ve got older it helps when it’s sort of mapped out exactly what you’ve got to do. It doesn’t mean to say that you’re going to do it every time but I’m certainly proud that I was able do it for the team when we needed it.
“The way that the tour has panned out, it’s almost like trying to find your form in a Test match and that’s never straightforward, so the team is very proud that we’ve been able to turn the Test match round and put South Africa back under pressure.
“They were probably thinking after two days that they were pretty much in the driving seat with a lead of nearly 200 but the game can play tricks on you. It’s never nice to have to chase 350 on the last day, which hasn’t been done too often, or try to play out for a draw which is never easy, either.”
England’s chances have been improved by the fact that Ashley Giles, who could not take the field in South Africa’s first innings because of back spasms, should be able to bowl today but Thorpe said: “I don’t think it’s going to be straightforward. I wouldn’t say we’re going to walk away with a victory because we’re going to have to bowl very well but there are cracks there and I think Ashley could play a big part.”
TRUSTY RETAINER
FULL SCOREBOARD FROM KINGSMEAD
ENGLAND: First Innings 139 (S M Pollock 4 for 32).
Second Innings
M E Trescothick c De Villiers b Pollock 132
(344min, 261 balls, 2 sixes, 20 fours)
A J Strauss c Van Jaarsveld b Ntini 136
(383min, 285 balls, 16 fours)
M A Butcher c Van Jaarsveld b Kallis 13
(101min, 70 balls, 1 four)
*M P Vaughan c De Villiers b Ntini 10
(38min, 27 balls, 1 four)
G P Thorpe not out 118
(313min, 209 balls, 15 fours)
A Flintoff c De Villiers b Smith 60
(147min, 112 balls, 3 sixes, 6 fours)
†G O Jones c Ntini b Boje 73
(133min, 82 balls, 2 sixes, 10 fours)
A F Giles c De Villiers b Steyn 0
(6min, 2 balls)
Extras (b 3, lb 8, w 2, nb 15) 28
Total (7 wkts dec, 172.3 overs, 736min) 570
FALL OF WICKETS : 1-273 (86.0; Strauss 125); 2-293 (94.2; Butcher 9); 3-306 (103.0; Butcher 11); 4-314 (108.0; Thorpe 6); 5-428 (143.2; Thorpe 58); 6-560 (171.1; Thorpe 108); 7-570 (172.3; Thorpe 118).
BOWLING: Pollock 36-16-79-1 (nb 3, 1 six, 11 fours; 5-1-17-0, 4-1-11-0, 4-2-4-0, 4-2-6-0, 5-4-4-1/stumps/7-4-11-0, 3-1-7-0, 4-1-19-0); Ntini 37-4-111-2 (nb 3, w 2; 2 sixes, 11 fours; 4-2-7-0, 5-1-15-0, 3-1-2-0, 4-0-15-0, 5-0-12-0/stumps/ 8-0-17-2, 5-0-26-0, 3-0-17-0); Steyn 25.3-2-122-1 (nb 7; 2 sixes, 16 fours; 1-0-4-0, 3-0-31-0, 5-1-11-0, 6-0-23-0, 3-1-7-0/tea/4-0-19-0, 3.3-0-27-1); Boje 44-5-163-1 (2 sixes, 20 fours; 1-0-1-0, 6-1-39-0, 7-0-20-0, 5-0-13-0/tea/5-2-17-0, 3-0-18-0, 4-1-5-0, 2-0-3-0, 6-1-16-0, 2-0-7-0, 1-0-7-0, 2-0-17-1); Kallis 25-4-57-1 (6 fours; 4-1-4-0/lunch/3-0-6-0, 5-0-21-0, 6-2-11-1, 2-0-7-0, 2-1-1-0/tea/ 3-0-7-0); Smith 5-1-27-1 (5 fours; 2-0-15-0, 1-1-0-0, 1-0-7-0, 1-0-5-1).
SCORING NOTES: Fourth day: Lunch: 366-4 (124 overs, 515min; Thorpe 35, Flintoff 21). Tea : 454-5 (152 overs, 635min; Thorpe 69, G O Jones 13). Third new ball taken at 3.38pm — 490-5 (160.2 overs). Declaration at 4.42pm when 377 ahead with 13 overs left (plus 92 on fifth day).
SOUTH AFRICA : First Innings 332 (J H Kallis 162).
Second Innings
*G C Smith lbw b Hoggard 5
(25min, 21 balls)
H H Gibbs not out 11
(37min, 27 balls, 2 fours)
N Boje not out 4
(11min, 6 balls, 1 four)
Extras (lb 1) 1
Total (1 wkt, 9 overs, 37min) 21
FALL OF WICKET : 1-12 (6.3; Gibbs 6).
BOWLING: (one spell each): Hoggard 5-0-17-1 (3 fours); Harmison 4-1-3-0.
SCORING NOTES: Fourth day : Play terminated at 5.31pm — four overs unbowled. Fifth day to start at 7.53am GMT (third day’s backlog from bad light closure).
Umpires: D B Hair (Australia) and S J A Taufel (Australia). Replay umpire: K H Hurter. Fourth umpire: B G Jerling. Match referee : C H Lloyd (West Indies).
SERIES DETAILS: First (Port Elizabeth): England won by seven wickets.
TESTS TO COME: Third (Cape Town): January 2-6. Fourth (Johannesburg): January 13-17. Fifth (Pretoria): January 21-25.
Compiled by Bill Frindall
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