Slightly unlucky to have taken just two wickets after the short morning session.

You have to expect Smith to get a big score though now, after being let off. He's playing some shots despite the cloud cover.

Afternoon looks set to be sunny.

Thats a huge wicket getting Smith out as the conditions look to be improving rapidly. More and more of the mountains are coming into view as the cloud lifts and the sun comes out so it's important we keep chipping away.

Anderson has bowled very well.

Another big moment went begging there with De Villiers being given not out off Swann when he looked to have got a thin edge to the keeper only for the replay to show he had been stumped regardless of an edge but England didn't appeal to the square leg umpire



Swann has bowled some pretty poor balls mixed in with the odd cracker.

Wooooooooo Swann you ripper



What a ball to get Duminy out after De Villiers gave his 2 chances he'd been given by the umpires and England away.

Fantastic stuff and now for a hatrick chance.....................ah well 2 will have to do.

130/5

England possibly letting this slip??....Not sure what is a good total on this wicket yet......At 130-5, we should have been looking to close them out for lower than 220.

Interesting few days to come....

Hmmmm, 279-6. Could be going the same way as the previous game, mehopes.

Possibly....Though the pessimist in me thinks that England can't bat as well as last time, and SA can't bowl as badly??

This was probably a good toss to lose. If you put the opposition in you have to bowl them out within the first day's play (or equivalent in number of overs, i.e. 90 overs) and go on to take a significant first innings lead as far as I'm concerned. Fair enough, Kallis is a class act and without him as a fly in the ointment we might already be batting, and might yet go on to take that first innings lead.

Decent day for England but if they let SA get 350 plus then it will be tough batting last on this pitch.

It would appear you are on a par with the English media

Pakistan 84/0 at lunch on Day2 chasing Australia's 127.

Hopefully an embarrassing defeat for the Aussies coming up.

I suppose it is allowable to post about the Aussies on an England cricket thread, but only because they're getting their butts reamed

I just presumed it was the cricket thread.

Nevermind........

2nd ball - Kallis c Prior b Onions 108

GET IN 280/7 now

Steyn gone for 26 280/8

291 All out.

What a fantastic preformence this morning especially from Anderson.

If England can get to the 25-30 over mark with at most one or 2 wickets down we should be able to build a score of at least 370-380............probably be out for 130 now.

Bowlers did really well to dismiss SA for 291 but 64-3 in reply means the game is still very much in the balance!

South Africa on top at 82/4 imo especially given that these 2 aren't likely to score quickly and relieve abit of pressure anytime soon.

If these 2 can nudge us up to 140/150 then hopefully the quick scorers after that can wrestle the game back in our favour with quick partnerships and positive batting.

Eng 112-4, Cook has his 21st Test fifty.

Cook 59
Bell 10

Cook and Bell just coming out after tea having put us just about back on an even keel.

Hopefully they can kick on now to set up the middle/lower order to fire us ontoa score past the South Africans allowing us to put some pressure on.

Spoke too soon....Cook gone straight after lunch to the 4th p*ss weak dismissal of our innings.

133/5

Game back in the South Africans favour now.

Typical England.

One great performance. Backed up by the bowlers, only for the batsmen to pi$$ all the hard work away.

Bell throws his hard work away and what looked like a good knock with Englands 5th freebie wicket given to the South Africans out of 6.

Prior doesn't look like lasting long either and is trying his best to give it up.

174/6

Well Prior did well to stick in until the close and if him and Swann can bat together for 10-12 overs in the morning we should be around their score.

The game looks to be shaping up into a cracker.

It looks like its set to be a 1 innings shoot-out, and I wouldn't fancy batting last on that strip...