Pietersen on defensive

Kevin Pietersen is usually such a positive character in everything he says and does that it was surprising to see him adopt defensive tactics during the stand between A.B. de Villiers, below, and Paul Harris that has taken the game into a fifth day and given South Africa an outside chance of completing a 3-0 win. With the second new ball, he decided to set orthodox attacking fields to Harris, who has proved to be an obdurate barrier through the series, but then removed all but one slip when

De Villiers was on strike, even though James Anderson was swinging the ball away. With five men on the boundary, De Villiers happily accumulated the easy singles on offer, recalling the approach of Steve Waugh in the way that he placed trust in his lower-order colleagues. The stream of short-pitched bowling also had little impact as Harris ducked time after time, albeit with his eye off the ball.

Practice makes perfect

Stephen Harmison can take a few balls to find his bearings, so it was interesting to see him practising with Ottis Gibson, the bowling coach, on the edge of the square towards the end of the lunch break. Pietersen then called on him to bowl immediately at the start of the second session.

Mixed day for Panesar

Monty Panesar has been slightly flattered by his figures during the series and especially at the Brit Oval, where a match return of four for 41 has improved his average. One recurring criticism is the way that Panesar, above, quickens his pace when batsmen look to hit over the top instead of backing himself to force a mistake with guile and flight in the manner of his hero, Bishan Bedi. His policy backfired when he dropped short to De Villiers, clearly expecting him to come down the track. De Villiers rocked back and pulled through mid-wicket. But Panesar showed better judgment a little later when South Africa were eight down. Sensing that De Villiers wanted to reach his hundred with a four, he spun the ball from a line well outside the leg stump to make him hit across the line with far less than a full-face showing.

Result: De Villiers bowled Panesar 97.