'We're chuffed to have bowled England out for 139'

Duncan Fletcher, England's coach, was critical of his side's cavalier approach to their innings after South Africa had bundled them out for 139 on the opening day of the second Test at Kingsmead. By the close, South Africa had reached 70 for 3 in reply, and were one good partnership away from taking control of the match.

"South Africa were fortunate to win the toss and take advantage," Fletcher told reporters at the close, "but that should have been at least a 250 wicket. I believe we had the talent to put together one grafting, workmanlike stand, which would have got up to that mark.

"We need to think on our feet at times," Fletcher added. "We want to play positive cricket and move the game along at three-and-a-half runs an over, but on that sort of pitch, 2.5 can be an exciting rate as well. We needed to regroup and be a little patient, but our judgment was clouded and there were some soft dismissals.

Fletcher pointed to the performance of Andrew Strauss, England's hero of the first Test, as proof of the demons in the pitch. "Strauss played so well [at Port Elizabeth], but he found it very difficult to get started here. There was a bit of inconsistent bounce and pace, and after two or three balls when you thought you were in, the next ball would whip past you."

Shaun Pollock was South Africa's bowling hero with 4 for 32 in 15.1 overs and, understandably, he took a slightly different view of the day's play. "There's always grass here, and the general colour of grass is green," he deadpanned. "There wasn't much sideways movement, but there was good carry and bounce, with just two or three staying low from the far side.

"We're chuffed to have bowled England out for 139," he continued. "We've regrouped since Port Elizabeth, and we have to take credit for that. We've reassessed our gameplans and identified where we went wrong. Today we were disciplined but aggressive as well."

In the whole of England's innings, South Africa bowled just two no-balls, as opposed to the 35 in the first innings at Port Elizabeth. "That's a big bonus," agreed Pollock. "We've been much more professional in this Test. But we're not setting ourselves any targets when we bat," he added. "We need to get a partnership or two going, which is what they didn't manage, and put their bowlers under pressure."

As if England did not have enough problems, they suffered an injury scare as well, after Ashley Giles suffered a back spasm during his valiant hour-long rearguard, and did not take the field afterwards. "It happened while he was ducking a bouncer," said Fletcher. "It's difficult to say [whether he will play tomorrow], but at the moment he's struggling."

Giles suffered a similar problem at Chittagong on last winter's tour of Bangladesh, and in the entire Test he bowled just seven overs. "On that occasion, he just woke up fine," added Fletcher, "so we're hoping he will come back fit tomorrow."