England out cheaply after Collingwood is derailed

Johannesburg: Someone must have had a word in the South Africa dressing room at lunchtime.

They had been so profligate in the last hour of the morning, but after the break their discipline returned and so, steadily, did disconsolate England batsmen to the pavilion.

By tea, England were all out for 180.

In reply, South Africa had progressed to 16-0 before rain stopped play.

There were not many free hits in the afternoon.

Paul Collingwood's express-train innings was stalled and then derailed. A leading edge to cover gave Ryan McLaren his first Test wicket.

Then Dale Steyn produced the dismissal of the match so far. He toyed with Ian Bell with brisk outswingers the old ball kept swinging here and then he produced a peach of an inswinger, which penetrated Bell's forward defence.

This was the equivalent of a wrist-spinner's googly duping the batsman. Sublime.

Thereafter, England adopted the gung-ho approach and although there were a few lusty blows struck, by Matt Prior, Stuart Broad and especially Graeme Swann, the resistance here was never likely to be prolonged. The ball was doing too much for Steyn in particular.

The South African spearhead may have been unlucky in Cape Town but here he got his just rewards for a spell of hostility, high pace and skill. He found consistent movement in the air and his bouncer, which accounted for Prior, was perfectly directed.

There are wickets out there, yet 180 feels under par. The clouds are thickening. There is thunder in the air. England need desperately early wickets preferably from Ryan Sidebottom, their surprise selection. Poor Sidebottom looked a trifle rusty with the bat against Steyn at full tilt.

The first shock was not the deepest. There was a buzz around the ground when it transpired that England's hero of Centurion and Newlands, Graham Onions, had been dropped and replaced by Ryan Sidebottom.

But for England supporters this was easy to cope with, compared with what followed when the game actually started. A stunned Strauss, who had chosen to bat, was out first ball to a brilliant catch off the face of his bat, thus becoming the fifth England batsman to be out to the opening delivery of a Test match and the first since 1936.

Strauss played a loosener from Dale Steyn off his hip and Hashim Amla, in an unusual and, no doubt, carefully conceived position just behind square on the leg-side and about nine feet from the bat, held a reflex catch in his outstretched right hand.

Unnerved

England were clearly unnerved by the loss of their captain. Jonathan Trott, who has, at least, radiated calm throughout the series, was all at sea in his brief stay, driving wildly, edging a boundary to fine-leg and then playing around a full-length delivery from Morne Morkel. Kevin Pietersen failed to settle any English nerves either.

Once again his footwork was awry and he was beaten by several superb deliveries from Morkel. He almost ran out Alastair Cook in pursuit of his first run. Then he pulled a short ball from Morkel straight to Wayne Parnell at mid-on.

Cook had been the only batsman suggesting permanence, but now he was given lbw on review. The England balcony appeared outraged that the decision was not overturned by the third umpire, Daryl Harper no stranger to the odd controversy.