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Lunch South Africa 65 for 4 (Rudolph 7*, de Villiers 5*) v England
Steven Finn bowled Hashim Amla for one of the more straightforward wickets to fall in the morning session © Getty Images
England took four South Africa wickets, including a highly controversial dismissal of Jacques Kallis, as they put the brouhaha with Kevin Pietersen behind them on the opening morning of the third Test at Lord's.
Steven Finn, preferred to Tim Bresnan on his home ground, took three of the wickets but his dismissal of Kallis, a decision made after England turned to the DRS system, left South Africa aghast.
Kallis had made 3 when Finn's appeal for a catch down the leg side was turned down by umpire Kumar Dharmasena. England reviewed and their suspicions that the ball had flicked the glove were upheld. But what Rod Tucker, the third umpire, seemed to overlook was that Kallis' bottom hand had been withdrawn from the bat when the ball made contact with his glove.
The fault was not with DRS, which seemed to give Tucker all the evidence he needed to uphold Dharmasena's not-out decision, but with what seemed to be a faulty conclusion based on the clear evidence available. There was no cause to override Dharmasena's decision.
South Africa's frustrations were deepened by the fact that Alviro Petersen had fallen in similar fashion in Finn's previous over. Again the ball strayed down the leg side, again Finn had the good fortune to brush the glove, but again the bottom hand had been withdrawn from the bat by the time contact was made. The only difference on this occasion was that Petersen did not have the presence of mind to review the decision - an oversight he recognised as he saw the big-screen replay as he left the field.
Finn had 3 for 22 in seven overs by lunch. He dismissed Petersen and Amla in the same over, his fifth of the morning, when he brought one back down the slope to bowl the latter through bat and pad. He had troubled Petersen from the outset, twice sensing lbw possibilities, only to strike him too high on the pad, England losing an umpiring review in the process.
As Yohan Blake, Jamaica's silver medallist over 100 and 200m in the London Olympics, rang the five-minute bell, there was cause to expect England to be fast out of the blocks.
It was a good toss for England to lose. They would not have dared to insert South Africa but the weather was unsettled enough to encourage their fast bowlers. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the Pietersen rumpus, England's assertion of the team ethic and need for unity had an immediate effect. For the first time in the series, England had purpose in the field.
South Africa have not lost at Lord's since their readmission to Test cricket and they had dominated England with disciplined, percentage cricket in the first two Tests. Their captain, Graeme Smith, had good cause to hope they could avoid victory and displace England as the No 1-ranked Test side in the world, but the captain fell in the ninth over as James Anderson went round the wicket to force a catch at the wicket.
This decision was also far from straightforward, with England needing to review Dharmasena's not-out decision to prove that the ball had struck Smith's outside edge as well as his bat scratching the ground.
Finn's inclusion ahead of Tim Bresnan was England's most pressing decision - Graeme Swann's return as a specialist spinner in a more balanced attack than Headingley had always been inevitable - and the preference for Finn had statistics on its side.
Finn had taken 17 wickets at 23 runs apiece on his home ground whereas Bresnan's three Tests had brought five wickets at 66. By lunch, the statistical case was even more apparent.
Steven Finn bowled Hashim Amla for one of the more straightforward wickets to fall in the morning session © Getty Images
England took four South Africa wickets, including a highly controversial dismissal of Jacques Kallis, as they put the brouhaha with Kevin Pietersen behind them on the opening morning of the third Test at Lord's.
Steven Finn, preferred to Tim Bresnan on his home ground, took three of the wickets but his dismissal of Kallis, a decision made after England turned to the DRS system, left South Africa aghast.
Kallis had made 3 when Finn's appeal for a catch down the leg side was turned down by umpire Kumar Dharmasena. England reviewed and their suspicions that the ball had flicked the glove were upheld. But what Rod Tucker, the third umpire, seemed to overlook was that Kallis' bottom hand had been withdrawn from the bat when the ball made contact with his glove.
The fault was not with DRS, which seemed to give Tucker all the evidence he needed to uphold Dharmasena's not-out decision, but with what seemed to be a faulty conclusion based on the clear evidence available. There was no cause to override Dharmasena's decision.
South Africa's frustrations were deepened by the fact that Alviro Petersen had fallen in similar fashion in Finn's previous over. Again the ball strayed down the leg side, again Finn had the good fortune to brush the glove, but again the bottom hand had been withdrawn from the bat by the time contact was made. The only difference on this occasion was that Petersen did not have the presence of mind to review the decision - an oversight he recognised as he saw the big-screen replay as he left the field.
Finn had 3 for 22 in seven overs by lunch. He dismissed Petersen and Amla in the same over, his fifth of the morning, when he brought one back down the slope to bowl the latter through bat and pad. He had troubled Petersen from the outset, twice sensing lbw possibilities, only to strike him too high on the pad, England losing an umpiring review in the process.
As Yohan Blake, Jamaica's silver medallist over 100 and 200m in the London Olympics, rang the five-minute bell, there was cause to expect England to be fast out of the blocks.
It was a good toss for England to lose. They would not have dared to insert South Africa but the weather was unsettled enough to encourage their fast bowlers. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the Pietersen rumpus, England's assertion of the team ethic and need for unity had an immediate effect. For the first time in the series, England had purpose in the field.
South Africa have not lost at Lord's since their readmission to Test cricket and they had dominated England with disciplined, percentage cricket in the first two Tests. Their captain, Graeme Smith, had good cause to hope they could avoid victory and displace England as the No 1-ranked Test side in the world, but the captain fell in the ninth over as James Anderson went round the wicket to force a catch at the wicket.
This decision was also far from straightforward, with England needing to review Dharmasena's not-out decision to prove that the ball had struck Smith's outside edge as well as his bat scratching the ground.
Finn's inclusion ahead of Tim Bresnan was England's most pressing decision - Graeme Swann's return as a specialist spinner in a more balanced attack than Headingley had always been inevitable - and the preference for Finn had statistics on its side.
Finn had taken 17 wickets at 23 runs apiece on his home ground whereas Bresnan's three Tests had brought five wickets at 66. By lunch, the statistical case was even more apparent.