Bell revels in England's perfect day

Century-maker Ian Bell said it had been a perfect day for the England cricket team as they closed in on victory on the fourth day of the second Test against South Africa at Kingsmead on Tuesday.

Bell, whose place in the side had been questioned after failing twice in the first Test, hit 141 as England took a 232-run first innings lead, then held a catch as Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad sent South Africa tumbling to 6-76 for six by the close of play.

Off-spinner Swann took three for 22 and Broad three for 18 as South Africa lost all of their top six batsmen for 23 runs in less than an hour of play on either side of tea.

"The whole day has been exactly what we wanted," said Bell.

Bad light reprieved the host nation until the final day on Wednesday and South African fast bowler Dale Steyn admitted that bad weather was virtually the last remaining hope for his team.

There is a 20 per cent chance of showers on Wednesday.

"But there are some guys who can hang around and will do what they can to get us out of the mess we find ourselves in," said Steyn.

There were no signs of a potential batting collapse earlier in the day when England took their first innings total to 9(dec)-575.

England's batsmen had virtually no problems against the South African bowlers on an easy-paced pitch but it seemed a different game when Swann and Broad got to work.

Ashwell Prince and South African captain Graeme Smith had taken South Africa's second innings total to 27 without any major alarms before Swann was brought on to bowl the tenth over.

Swann continued his uncanny knack of taking a wicket in his first over of an innings when he dismissed Prince with his second ball, caught by Bell off bat and pad at silly-mid-off.

He followed up two overs later by bowling Hashim Amla in the last over before tea when the batsman missed a drive against a ball which spun back sharply.

There was a shock for South Africa six balls after tea when Jacques Kallis padded up to a ball from Broad which cut back with reverse swing and hit the top of his off stump.

Astonishingly, AB de Villiers also elected to pad up to Broad four overs later, with the ball again swinging back and flicking his front pad. Given out leg before wicket by umpire Amish Saheba, he asked for a television review but the decision was upheld.

JP Duminy was bowled by the next ball when he tried to withdraw his bat from a lifting delivery and played the ball onto his stumps.

With the floodlights on and the light deteriorating, Smith was sixth out when he played around a ball from Swann and was given out leg before by umpire Aleem Dar. He too sought a review without success.

Mark Boucher and Morne Morkel survived until bad light ended play with 16 overs remaining.

Earlier, Bell and Matt Prior (60) put on 112 for the sixth wicket in a partnership which wrecked South African hopes of making a breakthrough early in the day.

They had no difficulty in seeing off Steyn and Morne Morkel, South Africa's main strike bowlers, at the start of play and Smith was soon forced on the defensive.

Bell and Prior gradually increased the tempo and Prior seemed set to go on a major assault when he raised a 77-ball half-century with a six off left-arm spin bowler Paul Harris.

He hit one more boundary but was then bowled by off-spinner Duminy when he chopped an attempted cut onto his stumps.

Bell, whose place as a number six batsmen had been questioned because it left England with only four specialist bowlers, justified the confidence shown in him by the team management with a composed, confident innings.

"I knew I was under the pump. I needed an innings, there's no doubt about that," he said.

"It was nice to get a big hundred."

FOW 1/27, 2/37, 3/40, 4/44, 5/44, 6/50

Bowling	O	M	R	W
J. Anderson	7	1	24	0
G. Onions	4	1	12	0
G. Swann	12	3	22	3
S. Broad	9	2	18	3

 

England 1st innings

Bowling	O	M	R	W
D. Steyn	34	6	94	2
M. Ntini	29	4	115	0
M. Morkel	31	6	78	3
J. Kallis	14	1	43	0
P. Harris	38	4	146	1
J. Duminy	24	1	89	3

- AAP