Browse Sections

• Oldham Athletic FC
• Oldham Roughyeds'
• Local football
• Local cricket

SA pile on agony

20/ 7/2008

HUNDREDS from AB de Villiers and Ashwell Prince helped South Africa pile up a huge first-innings lead at Headingley, to leave England in obvious danger of going 1-0 down in the npower Test series.

De Villiers' and Prince's record 212-run fifth-wicket stand was the cornerstone of the tourists' 480 for seven by tea on day three of the second Test - by which time they were a crushing 277 ahead.

Fresh conditions accompanied by regular cloud cover were no bar to more unhurried but relentless South African consolidation of an already dominant position.

De Villiers (158no) forced a four past cover in Stuart Broad's first over of the day, to take him and Prince (149) beyond their country's previous best for the fifth wicket against England - Gary Kirsten and Mark Boucher's 192 at Durban in 1999.

Prince needed 13 deliveries to add to his overnight 134 but eventually reached his Test best, and brought up the 200 stand for good measure, with a cover-drive on the up for four off Broad.

There was to be no maiden 150, though, because debutant Darren Pattinson - again the last member of England's four-strong seam attack to be used by Michael Vaughan - got a delivery to keep its line from round the wicket and have the left-hander caught behind, giving his team their first wicket for 75 overs.

De Villiers, joined by Mark Boucher, completed his sixth Test century shortly before lunch when he pushed a single off Andrew Flintoff into the off-side - having spent 13 balls on 99.

De Villiers' hundred took 264 balls and contained 11 fours.

He was in no rush after the resumption either, on his way to 150 - adding four more boundaries in another 91 deliveries.

Boucher, still more cautious, helped to add 67 for the sixth wicket before dragging an attempted pull at James Anderson (three for 126) on to his stumps - and Monty Panesar then ended a personal barren spell stretching back to Lord's 82 overs ago when he bowled Morne Morkel through the gate for a conspicuous duck.

Those were details which counted for little, though, as England's wait continued beyond the third new ball to discover the exact size of their debt when required to bat again.

With De Villiers (174) eventually gone after more than eight-and-a-half hours - to Flintoff's outstanding, one-handed catch away to his left at first slip off an edged drive at Broad - the South Africa innings closed on 522 all out.

Panesar (three for 65) sneaked in for the late wickets.

But the more important statistic was that England's bid to save the match with the bat began 319 runs behind, with 25 overs and two days left.