KEY POINTS:
Kevin Pietersen's first action as England captain was to lose the toss, but thereafter almost everything the new man tried bore fruit as England enjoyed a dominant opening day of the fourth and final test at The Oval yesterday.
South Africa, who have already won the series, were hurried out for 194 and by the close England had made a steady start, reaching 49 for the loss of Andrew Strauss .
"I thought that as a team today we were fantastic," said pace bowler Stephen Harmison, who made a telling return to test cricket. "I thought Kevin did a brilliant job as captain. I don't think he got challenged that much, because a lot of things he did went right for him."
James Anderson took three wickets, including his 200th in tests, while Harmison bowled well for two and Monty Panesar and the recalled Stuart Broad also took two apiece.
Harmison admitted to being a little anxious on his return to the side. "Obviously I was a little nervous coming back in," said the Durham fast bowler, "but I got a text message off Kevin [Pietersen] last night saying `Welcome back' and `Good luck'. And I just said it feels like Christmas Eve to me. I am so excited. I was just pleased to be back. I got momentum from that first over.
"I was actually better than I thought I was going to be," he added. "In fact, it was excitement more than nerves I think."
His tally of test wickets now stands at 214 after striking twice on the hard Oval pitch yesterday. He could, and should, have had more, in particular with the first ball of the day which flew high off Graeme Smith's bat and straight to Alastair Cook in the gully, who dropped it.
"That first ball, it just flew at Alastair Cook, but I never get too upset about dropped catches," he said. "It is just one of those things. It would have been nice, but to be honest it was not a great first ball. It was a short and wide long hop which he sort of smacked straight to gully. But it was pleasing to get the first over out of the way."
It was certainly eventful. His fifth ball ricocheted off an inside edge and caught Smith in the most tender of places and had him doubled up, then on his back waiting for the pain to subside. His final ball flew through to wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose and smacked him in the mouth, drawing blood. "It was an interesting first over," added Harmison wryly.
He showed he was back, which he was happy to let the South African batsmen know & along with the rest of the cricket world.
- INDEPENDENT
