South Africa v England, 1st Test, Day 2 - A productive day for England

It has not been a great thing for me to witness Hashim Amla’s lean-patch. First of all, his feet are not moving at the crease and secondly, he is not leaning on the stroke properly and is moving away from the ball and thus, that Stuart Broad leg-cutter took the edge of his bat. The cardinal rule is, as far as I am concerned, never allow the ball to come to you, but you should reach the ball first and cover your offstump well. I have always found Amla comfortable against pace bowlers by getting behind the line of the ball rather than side of the ball – a tactic worked well for Rahul Dravid but not for Amla.

By the way, I must agree, Stuart Broad bowled brilliantly throughout the day and never let anyone felt the absence of James Anderson. Most of the time, he pitched the ball full on the good length area in-and-around that off stump which kept the South African batsmen at bay. While Broad was hard to score, Dean Elgar and AB de Villiers kept the scoreboard ticking by fetching runs against the other English bowlers, forged a 86-run partnership for the third wicket.

AB was outsmarted by another Broad leg-cutter and it was up to Elgar to glue the Proteas innings together. Elgar was watchful and quick to move his feet and his reflexes were good to persist against some disciplined English bowling.

England were good in gaining the momentum – outweighed a struggling Amla by targeting the off stump and dismissing AB de Villiers when he was looking threatening by pitching four consecutive deliveries on the off stump line and good length and letting it leave the batsman – AB, like Amla didn’t reach the ball first and left his offstump unprotected. Broad’s deliveries to Amla and AB were good, but they were not unplayable. It was a productive day for England.    

Thank You

Faisal Caesar