Amla, Philander swing it for SA

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South Africa batsman Hashim Amla reaches his century at Lords yesterday, his 16th Test ton. He went on to score 121.

This Test had swayed one way then the other, with neither team able to grab the initiative until yesterday afternoon.

England had fought very hard, putting in a gutsy effort on the back of a week of controversy, with the starting XI containing a rookie duo whose readiness for Test cricket was questioned.

South Africa have looked the better side, but have failed to escape the grasp of a desperate home team. That changed yesterday, but England played a massive part in their own downfall.

As Jimmy Anderson lay crestfallen on the Lord’s square shortly before noon (local time), the ball two feet to his left, the feeling was that this Test, the series and England’s No 1 ranking was gone.

You could hear it in the crowd, with their audible groan. Sure, there was still time left, but AB de Villiers was only on eight, he looked fidgety, and with South Africa’s lead just 171 at the time, England had created a chance. However, Anderson, their best fielder, dropped the ball. His good mate Graeme Swann, the bowler, looked stunned. Andrew Strauss, too. Then came the disappointment and as De Villiers batted on into the afternoon, the sense of loss set in.

Twenty four overs later, after De Villiers and the brilliant Hashim Amla had shared a 95-run partnership for the fifth wicket, life returned to the crowd and their cricket side, but by that stage the damage was done. They were optimistic during Steve Finn’s marvellous spell, but the path to victory was now a long and treacherous one.

Amla produced another superb innings. As with De Villiers, he had a slice of good fortune when he was dropped by Matt Prior down the leg-side on Saturday evening. That let-off led to a rapid counter-attack by Amla and Jacques Kallis; yesterday’s let-off for De Villiers saw the building of a more sedate partnership.

It was a very controlled showing from the South African batsmen, illustrated by Amla not scoring a boundary in the first session.

If it seemed slow, it was anything but – it was just deliberate. Under those circumstances Amla looks impenetrable. There were a few instances where the ball found the inside edge and went past the stumps, but his patience, technique and sublime skill deserved moments of good fortune.

He marked the accomplishment of a 16th Test century with a more animated celebration than is the norm for him. As Steyn took his picture from the dressing room balcony, Amla made the outline of what appeared to be a box. It was a note of thanks to the team’s computer analyst, Prasanna Agoram, with whom Amla had spent hours poring over technique following the Oval Test.

“It was an acknowledgement of the amount of work he puts in and the work I’ve done with him. He told me something inspirational at the start of the Test, and ja, I just wanted to acknowledge that,” said Amla, before adding that Agoram’s words would remain secret.

Amla’s a hard man to please, but whatever tweaks he made with Agoram’s assistance clearly worked. Amla eventually fell victim to Steven Finn, for the second time in the match, and again with a peach of a delivery.

Philander and Duminy shared another vital partnership, backing up their 72-run seventh-wicket stand from the first innings with a 54-run eighth-wicket one.

And with England needing 346 to win, Philander trapped both openers lbw in his first two overs.

“Any score above 300 is going to be difficult, although the pitch is still okay.

“But if you look at the state of the game, we are 1-0 up, England have to make the play, so if we hit our areas for long enough, they must look to score [and that will give us chances],” said Amla.

For England perhaps a glimmer of hope remains, but it’s a faint one. South Africa, meanwhile, will return this morning knowing that eight good balls will be enough for the No 1 Test ranking to be theirs.