Jonathan Agnew column

Jonathan Agnew column

Eleven wickets fell on a dramatic second day that felt right for batting. Clear blue skies and warm sunshine counted for nothing as, Jacques Kallis apart, none of the batsmen can claim to have been undone by difficult deliveries.

Bell fell two runs short of what would have been his 22nd Test fifty

Once James Anderson and Graham Onions had blown away the remaining four South African wickets for just 12 runs in 17 balls - with Anderson claiming a remarkable 3-1 - England had to bat patiently and aim to repeat the procedure that had been so successful in Durban.
But they were given a poor example to follow by captain Andrew Strauss, who drove loosely at the sixth ball of the innings, which was well wide of his off-stump, and edged Morne Morkel to the wicketkeeper.
Strauss is clearly in good touch, and was keen to continue batting positively, but it was a bad stroke and one that lifted South African spirits after their thoroughly deflating batting display.
Jonathan Trott was the next to perish to a bad shot when he aimed to force Dale Steyn through the off side, but did not move his feet and chopped the ball into his stumps for 20.
Two balls later, Kevin Pietersen drove a return catch to Steyn for a duck and England were subsiding on 36-3.
Paul Collingwood joined forces with Alastair Cook and added 37, but he misjudged a straight, full-length delivery from Morkel to which he went onto the back foot and was plumb lbw for 19.
This brought Ian Bell to the crease, fresh from his excellent hundred in Durban but, at 73-4, to face a situation in which he has never thrived.
He was off the mark with a lovely cover drive, and patiently waited 22 balls before his next scoring stroke. With Cook, he battled away throughout the afternoon as South Africa made run-scoring very difficult.
Cook, attempting to lift the rate, pulled the fourth ball after tea from Morkel straight to Ashwell Prince at square leg for 65, but Bell continued to bat with increasing fluency, even if most of his cover drives were hit straight to the fielders.
But having done the hard work, scoring 48 in nearly three hours and with Steyn tiring and skipper Graeme Smith having to consider his options, Bell received a wide long hop from Kallis which he cut straight to JP Duminy at point.
His dismay was obvious - he could barely bring himself to drag himself away from the crease - and the pressure was firmly back on England.
Matt Prior and Stuart Broad batted busily, but judiciously, to add 51, but Broad was cleaned up by Steyn on the stroke of the second new ball to leave England 50 runs adrift.