CRICKET TEST MATCH:SOUTH AFRICA shaded it here yesterday. Put into bat, they lost a wicket in the first over and by mid-afternoon were in trouble at 127 for five. That they were able to close the day on 279 for six was down to the brilliance of Jacques Kallis in scoring the 33rd hundred of his Test career.
His was a chanceless innings, a masterclass on a surface that, while generally true, offered the occasional capricious pout in the form of some splice-jarring, filling-loosening bounce from a length.
This does not promise to be a high-scoring match and, should the South African bowlers fire, as they are due to do, it will require similar diligence from the England batsmen if they are to stay in touch.
Kallis will resume this morning on 108 and will need to nurse the tail through the second new ball, which was eight deliveries old when bad light ended play seven overs early, if South Africa are to push towards 350, a total that will put England under the cosh.
The home side will then have Dale Steyn more match fit than he was at Durban, and the condition affecting Morne Morkel's left foot, which reduced him to minimal spells in the latter part of the England innings in the second Test, has cleared up.
The omission of Makhaya Ntini, an emotional decision but one which he could not say he did not see coming, gave a second Test to Friedel de Wet, whose inspirational new-ball spell almost bowled South Africa to a remarkable win at Centurion.
In general it is a quicker attack than England's, which will make the unpredictable nature of the bounce all the more dangerous.
Three partnerships, all involving Kallis and none massive, were the key to South Africa's recovery. The first, worth 76 for the fourth wicket, saw Kallis and AB de Villiers take the score from a precarious 51 for three to 127 for four.
The next, following two wickets in two balls from Graeme Swann that saw JP Duminy collect his second successive first-baller, produced 89 for the sixth wicket as the tigerishly competitive wicketkeeper Mark Boucher counter-attacked for 51.
Finally came a stand, as yet unbroken, of 63 for the seventh wicket between Kallis and Steyn, who has been promoted above Morkel and thus far has played with considerable responsibility and no little skill for his 26.
With Table Mountain hidden in the morning by a thick shroud of cloud and a clamminess in the air, the ball had swung significantly for the England bowlers in practice - which is often taken as a barometer for how the new ball might behave in the game. Statistically, in any case, there is strong evidence for asking the opposition to bat first at Newlands: only one of the last 13 matches has been won by the side batting first and six of the last seven have been taken by that batting second.
It was fortunate for England, then, that Andrew Strauss was able to maintain his good fortune with the coin with his 10th success in 15 goes since he was made full-time captain a year ago. Graeme Smith rushed from the field to pad up, having made it clear that he too would have liked to field first.
In general, England's four-man attack bowled tidily and perhaps deserved better than they got. The ball did indeed move around, not viciously but enough to keep the batsmen honest. James Anderson continues to make life more difficult for left- than right-handers and he removed Ashwell Prince with his fourth ball; there was no disgrace in that for the batsman, who did well to touch a brute of a delivery.
Later, with his first ball after lunch, Anderson removed Smith, who had threatened to make England pay for Swann dropping him at second slip before he had scored, from the first ball of Graham Onions' opening over. That, if of no obvious benefit to England, will at least have shut Swann up for five minutes.
Matt Prior's catch off Anderson was an excellent one, confirming the progress he has made with his wicketkeeping in the past six months or so.
Onions was to get some reward for his endeavour when he had Hashim Amla lbw, although he did nothing to dispel the fear that, well as he bowls, he is destined to be unlucky.
It took Stuart Broad to remove Boucher for 51, his bowling having been intelligent and closer to the metronomic skills he says he craves. Among Broad's wickets it is good to see some maiden overs stacking up, which create pressure on batsmen.
And what of Swann? Would the new year bring a continuation of his effervescent form or would the bubble burst? There was no reason to suppose it would, but the dropped catch in the position normally occupied by Paul Collingwood - who was playing but kept out of the firing line - indicated it might.
So too the decision which gave De Villiers not out when Prior claimed a catch, but which might have been more beneficial had the square leg umpire (and England) sought confirmation of the stumping which Prior had routinely expedited.
De Villiers, though, was suckered into chipping a gentle catch to Strauss at short midwicket, and when Duminy feathered his first ball to Prior it was evident Swann's stardust was in place.
THIRD TEST
(Cape Town)
South Africa First Innings
G Smith c Prior b Anderson 30
A Prince c Prior b Anderson 0
H Amla lbw b Onions 14
J Kallis not out 108
AB de Villiers c Strauss b Swann 36
JP Duminy c Prior b Swann 0
M Boucher lbw b Broad 51
D Steyn not out 26
Extras (b1 lb11 w1 nb1) 14
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Total 6 wkts (83.2 overs) ... 279
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-46, 3-51, 4-127, 5-127, 6-216.
To bat: M Morkel, P L Harris, F de Wet.
Bowling: Anderson 20-1-62-2; Onions 18.2-3-60-1; Broad 19-6-54-1; Swann 22-1 74-2; Pietersen 4-0-17-0.
