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| August 3, 2003 | Sunday | Jumadi-us-Sani 4, 1424 |
Proteas prolong England misery with huge score
LONDON, Aug 2: South Africa, helped by 259 runs from captain Graeme Smith, set England up for a knock-out blow as they declared at a record 682 for six shortly after tea on the third day of the second Test on Saturday.
That gave them a first-innings lead of 500 after handing their opponents another demoralising cricketing lesson.
While the touring team surf on a wave of confidence, prompted largely by Smith’s extraordinary exploits, England’s morale and focus appeared to have all but collapsed at a sunny, packed Lord’s.
They simply cannot handle Smith.
The tall 22-year-old left-hander batted for just over nine-and-a-half hours for his second consecutive double century, working most of his 34 boundaries to leg, before he fell during the afternoon, edging James Anderson back into his stumps.
Smith had been within sight of his own South Africa Test innings record of 277 — which he had made in the first Test — before he departed to a standing ovation.
Worse still for the home side, he has batted for 20 hours and 19 minutes in all, some five hours longer than England’s three innings in total.
Against the South African undercard, England looked to have more of a chance but seemed determined to let each one slip through their fingers on to the Lord’s turf.
Their fielding performance, after South Africa resumed on 412 for two, was not only painful to their supporters but also to wicket-keeper Alec Stewart.
He was hit just under the eye following a stumping half-chance — the ball brushed Smith’s pad as he charged out of his crease having amassed 247 — and had to be replaced by Anthony McGrath behind the stumps.
Stewart returned later to rejoin the suffering.
In all the home team, under Michael Vaughan for the first time, missed five simple chances, all of them proving expensive. Smith was spilled on eight, Gary Kirsten on 54 before he made a century, while Dippenaar was missed twice.
On 15, he was dropped off a basic chance off the persevering, perspiring all rounder Andrew Flintoff by Ashley Giles at first slip.
On 36, he was given another life, this time at second slip off Darren Gough by Mark Butcher to huge groans from the crowd. He also had close lbw escapes, facing Flintoff, just before making his half-century.
He went on to make 92, with South Africa passing their previous record Test innings score of 622 for nine against Australia in Durban in 1969-70, before he attempted to drive back over Giles’s head only to edge to short extra cover.
Boucher added spark to the afternoon with a 43-ball half-century and 68 off 51 balls, including 12 fours and one thumping six off Giles, before his stumps were spreadeagled by Anderson.
Earlier Jacques Rudolph, a far more elegant left-handed shot-maker than Smith but yet to match him in any other way, was caught behind for 26 off Flintoff.
Smith’s commanding 259 was the centrepiece of the tourists’ total with four bowlers — Darren Gough, Stephen Harmison, Andrew Flintoff and Giles all conceding over 100 runs.
Smith’s innings was the second-highest individual score in a Lord’s Test behind Graham Gooch’s 333 for England against India in 1990.
Smith, at 22, South Africa’s youngest ever captain, took his tally for the series to 621 from just three innings — equalling Dudley Nourse’s 56-year-old record for the most runs by a South African in a Test series against England.
He also surpassed West Indian great Gary Sobers all-time record for runs amassed in three successive Test innings, Sobers having made 599 against Pakistan in the 1957-58 series.
In the series as a whole he has batted for over almost three days and a half 20 hours, a testament to both his hunger for runs as well as his concentration.
But on 247, he went down the wicket to Giles. The ball brushed his front pad and hit Stewart, England’s most capped player, in the face as the stumping chance evaporated.
The first Test of the five-match series was dominated by South Africa but ended in a draw after a day’s play was lost to rain.
Scoreboard
ENGLAND (1st Innings) 173 (M. Ntini 5-75).
SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings, overnight 412-2):
G.C. Smith b Anderson 259
H.H. Gibbs b Harmison 49
G. Kirsten b McGrath 108
H.H. Dippenaar c Butcher b Giles 92
J.A. Rudolph c Stewart b Flintoff 26
M.V. Boucher b Anderson 68
S.M. Pollock not out 10
A.J. Hall not out 6
EXTRAS (B-24, LB-22, W-5, NB-13) 64
TOTAL (for six decl, 177 overs) 682
FALL OF WKTS: 1-133, 2-390, 3-513, 4-580, 5-630, 6-672.
DID NOT BAT: P.R. Adams, D. Pretorius, M. Ntini
BOWLING: Gough 28-3-127-0 (9nb, 1w); Anderson 27-6-90-2; Harmison 22-3-103-1 (1w); Flintoff 40-10-115-1 (4nb); Giles 43-5-142-1; Butcher 6-1-19-0 (3w); McGrath 11-0-40-1.—Reuters/AFP
Highest totals in Tests
952-6d Sri Lanka v India Colombo 1997-98
903-7d England v Australia The Oval 1938
849 England v West Indies Kingston 1929-30
790-3d West Indies v Pakistan Kingston 1957-58
758-8d Australia v West Indies Kingston 1954-55
729-6d Australia v England Lord’s 1930
708 Pakistan v England The Oval 1987
701 Australia v England The Oval 1934
699-5 Pakistan v India Lahore 1989-90
695 Australia v England The Oval 1930
692-8d West Indies v England The Oval 1995
687-8d West Indies v England The Oval 1976
682-6d South Africa v England Lord’s 2003
681-8d West Indies v England Port-of-Spain 1953-54
676-7 India v Sri Lanka Kanpur 1986-87
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