An unbeaten 112 from Jacques Kallis took South Africa to 264 for 4 at the close of play on day one of the first text against England at Centurion.
Early wickets had looked to justify Andrew Strauss’ decision to insert the hosts after winning the toss, with Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and Graeme Swann all striking early on to leave South Africa 93 for 3.
But Kallis showed patience that many of the teammates had lacked as he hit his 32nd test century in the typical unyielding style we’ve come to expect from the all-rounder.
Even with a slight injury- one that will deny him the chance to bowl in the match- he strolled to his century without serious alarm.
England will be encouraged by a terrific early start for their bowlers, the two wickets for spinner Swann who also saw for AB De Villiers, but will worry about little niggles that seems to have eroded some of the confidence from the England seam bowlers.
It did seem like a strange decision however to field just three seam bowlers in the team and then insert Graeme Smith’s side to bat, surely a selection geared towards taking on what was a slow pitch with the bat, rather than the ball.
JP Duminy should be praised for his rearguard performance, as he was able to rotate the strike and give Kallis the chance to put England to the sword.
The 34-year old's unnerving ability to keep his nerve at the crease means he’ll be odds on to make his first double hundred in test match cricket.
Yet again the referral system, a system that isn’t favored by the players, was involved in some controversy as England had two successive referrals rejected.
The second of which involved De Villiers, who Swann claimed to have had caught behind, and after the umpire didn’t raise his finger, he referred the decision.
The decision remained however because the television company covering the game don’t have the technology available to confer on caught behind decisions.
Why on earth would you implement the referral system, and then not have the technology to back it up when the players want to use it? You either have it or you don’t.
Yes Swann and keeper Matt Prior will be criticized for asking for the referral despite possessing this information about the abilities of the TV company, but surely this should have been sorted out before the test series begun.
The ICC really has to drop the referral system sooner or later, or put their money where there mouth is and fund this technology, something they’ve failed to do up till now, and that would have prevented a situation like we saw today.
It was the only blip of the day however, one that was dominated by one of the current era’s greatest players. Onlookers will be craving much of the same for the days to come.
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