For a long time yesterday the England team resembled a man hanging from a
cliff by his finger nails, clawing and scraping the rock-face but slipping
ever more gradually into the abyss below. They had scrapped and fought
simply to stay in touch, their skill levels never quite matching the sweat
produced. Then, in the final hour of the day, Andrew Flintoff summoned up
every last ounce of energy and inspiration to produce a magical six overs
that brought him the wickets of Jacques Kallis and A.B. de Villiers, with
the result that his team will arrive back this morning confident that the
series is not beyond them.
This was an hour of cricket the meaning of which stretched way beyond the
importance of the match or indeed the series. Here, encapsulated in the
heroic bowling of Flintoff, the rediscovered class of Kallis, the calm
resistance of Ashwell Prince and the frayed tempers of the rest of the cast
was the very reason for watching the damn game. Twenty20 cricket may be the
toast of the moment, but when Test cricket provides an hour such as this,
its survival as the pinnacle of the game should never be in doubt.
When the umpires finally called a halt to proceedings, as the light closed in
and tempers began to flare, South Africa's lead was 25 and, in Prince and
Mark Boucher, they had two redoubtable characters who needed all their
toughness and skill, and not a little luck, to get through to the end
unscathed. Whether Flintoff can recreate the passion and intensity of the
second evening, how far Boucher and Prince can stretch South Africa's lead
and whether England's under-pressure batsmen can find some form second time
around will determine the outcome of the match.
That the result is still in doubt is solely down to Flintoff. At 5.23pm, after
a heavy shower and then drizzle had forced the players from the field for an
hour, the scoreboard showed that South Africa were 205 for four. The deficit
was 26 and, in Kallis (48 not out) and Prince (24 not out), South Africa had
two batsmen who were set, as if in concrete, and ready to plunder a sizeable
first-innings lead. England needed an inspirational figure to step forward
if the series was not to slip away.
Inevitably, that man was Flintoff. He had already bowled 18 overs in the day,
a little more than a third of England's total, and initially he might have
thought that the gods were against him, since the third umpire had turned
down what to this eye looked a good claim for a catch at slip by Andrew
Strauss and then Paul Collingwood had spilt a dolly off his bowling at
second slip, both chances off Neil McKenzie. But eventually McKenzie had
fallen leg-before to give Flintoff his 200th wicket in Tests. He might then
have thought that was to be the high point of the day.
He must have been tired, but cricketers such as Flintoff sense the moment and
the mood of the game and the needs of their team. England, and Michael
Vaughan, needed him now. He called for the ball immediately after the break
and began to charge in as if his life depended upon it.
Kallis has often been an immovable object for South Africa and as these two
great all-rounders - England's best bowler and South Africa's best batsmen,
to boot - went toe to toe it was immediately obvious that the momentum of
the day depended upon its outcome.
Flintoff began by softening up Kallis with a variety of short, nasty bouncers,
some of which passed over Kallis's shoulder, others in front of his nose.
These were rapid missiles, but Kallis never looked anything other than
secure, standing firm, staring into space in between balls and doing his
utmost to keep his heartbeat down and mind alert. He didn't exactly look as
if he was enjoying himself, but here was a man not afraid of a contest,
confident in a technique honed through hours of lonely practice.
It was only when Flintoff tested out the other end of the pitch that Kallis
began to doubt himself. England believe that Kallis is vulnerable to an
early yorker. Now he also had gloomy light and an inadequate sightscreen -
over which Flintoff's arm was releasing missile after furious missile - with
which to contend.
Flintoff was convinced that he had Kallis leg-before with one such, standing
mid-pitch and appealing until the last drop of breath had been squeezed from
his body, the veins in his neck standing out like tree roots at the base of
a great oak. It was difficult to know what the ball was missing, other than
off stump and leg stump, as it crashed into Kallis's toe, and thereafter
Flintoff went dangerously close to overstepping the mark with his constant
questioning of the sanity of Alim Dar, the umpire.
He was not to be denied, though. The very next over, still burning with
injustice at Dar's denial, he flattened Kallis's off stump with a
ripsnorting, late-swinging yorker that Kallis jabbed down on, but missed by
a distance. Flintoff stood mid-pitch, arms raised like some conquering
Viking while his team-mates mobbed him. The immovable object had come face
to face with an irresistible force and, for once, Kallis had to give way.
De Villiers, a bright young thing but not yet battle hardened, fell hooking.
Boucher, itching for the fight, survived two yorkers that he plainly did not
see and a whole heap of English tongue-wagging. For the second time in the
match - the first was when Flintoff was batting - the crowd had come alive.
Some cricketers can just do it and Flintoff is one of that rare breed.
Since Headingley, his comeback has been a bit of a damp squib, but this was
Flintoff-inspired electricity. The man is back.
England: First Innings 231 (A N Cook 76, I R Bell 50)
South Africa: First Innings
N D McKenzie lbw b Flintoff 72
(175min, 127 balls, 12 fours)
*G C Smith c Strauss b Flintoff 7
(31min, 21 balls)
P L Harris c Cook b Sidebottom 19
(91min, 54 balls, 3 fours)
H M Amla c and b Anderson 9
(33min, 23 balls)
J H Kallis b Flintoff 64
(141min, 114 balls, 9 fours)
A G Prince not out 37
(158min, 92 balls, 7 fours)
A. B. de Villiers c Sidebottom b Flintoff 5
(17min, 17 balls, 1 four)
M V Boucher not out 11
(16min, 13 balls, 2 fours)
Extras (27lb, 5nb) 32
Total (6 wkts, 76 overs, 334min) 256
M Morkel, A Nel, and M Ntini to bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-17 (7.2; McKenzie 5); 2-94 (27.2; McKenzie 47);
3-117 (35.1; McKenzie 60); 4-135 (39.0; Kallis 5); 5-226 (68.4; Prince 29);
6-238 (72.4; Prince 31).
Bowling: Sidebottom 18-6-60-1 (nb 1; 9 fours; 6-2-16-0/stumps/1-0-10-0,
5-3-9-1, 4-1-14-0, 2-0-11-0); Anderson 23-5-64-1 (nb 3; 10 fours; 3-0-10-0,
6-2-16-0, 4-1-8-1, 6-1-20-0, 4-1-10-0); Flintoff 26-8-68-4 (nb1; 9 fours;
2-1-4-1/stumps/1.3-0-3-0/rain/3.3-2-3-0, 3-0-14-0/lunch/6-0-24-1, 4-3-5-0,
6-2-15-2); Collingwood 2-0-12-0 (3 fours; one spell); Panesar 7-0-25-0 (3
fours; 6-0-16-0, 1-0-9-0).
Scoring notes: First day: Stumps (at 6.31pm) 38-1 (11 overs,
50min; McKenzie 12, Harris 10). Second day: Rain delayed start by 14min.
Rain break 11.24 to 11.43am - 51-1 (13.3 overs; McKenzie 25, Harris 10). Lunch
104-2 (31 overs, 139min; McKenzie 52, Amla 4). Tea (at 3.58pm) 205-4
(63 overs, 275min; Kallis 48, Prince 24). Rain delayed restart by 82min
until 5.24pm. Bad light ended play at 6.23pm - abandoned at 6.38pm. Stumps
256-6 (76 overs, 334min; Prince 37, Boucher 11).
Umpires: Alim Dar (Pakistan - 49th Test) and S J Davis (Australia -
12th).
Replay umpire: I J Gould.
Fourth umpire: R J Bailey.
Match referee: R S Madugalle (Sri Lanka).
Series details: First Test (Lord's): drawn. Second Test (Headingley):
South Africa won by ten wickets.
Test to come: Fourth Test (Brit Oval): Aug 7-11.
Compiled by Bill Frindall
