England's hopes of emerging from South Africa with a memorable series win were dealt a devastating blow on a breathless first morning at Johannesburg, as Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel struck four times inside the first ten overs of the fourth and final Test to leave England limping on 39 for 4 on a helpful but not unplayable surface. By lunch, Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell had reprised their Cape Town heroics to stitch the innings together with a 61-run stand, but much more of the same will be required to rescue their team from a predicament largely of their own making.
England's recent visits to the Wanderers have rarely been dull affairs, and this match began in sensational fashion, reminiscent of their 2 for 4 collapse in November 1999, when Andrew Strauss became the first England cricketer since Stan Worthington in 1936 to fall to the very first delivery of a Test match. The ball that got him, from Steyn, was a largely anonymous sighter on leg stump, but Hashim Amla had been cleverly positioned at backward short leg, and reacted in an instant to dive full-length to his right and scoop a brilliant low chance.
Strauss had earlier won the toss and batted first with some slight trepidation, recognising the likelihood of a tough first hour in dank conditions against a pumped-up new-ball pairing. Without his rock-solid temperament to guide their approach, England's middle-order faltered disastrously, with Jonathan Trott producing his nerviest and least convincing Test innings to date. He inside-edged his fourth delivery, from Morkel, inches past his leg stump before swishing loosely outside off one ball later. And before the over was out, Morkel had got his man, as Trott sized up a speculative on-drive and was pinned plumb lbw for 5.
That brought Kevin Pietersen to the middle, under pressure following one of the leanest spells of his career, and habitually anxious to get off the mark as soon as possible. Twice in his first eight deliveries he sold his partner, Alastair Cook, a dummy as he set off for non-existent singles into the covers, and Cook came inches from a direct-hit run-out on the second of those occasions. He eventually found the gap from his tenth ball, before clipping Morkel sweetly through midwicket for a nerve-settling boundary. But Morkel responded with a short ball in the same over, and Pietersen was aghast as he wellied a muffed pull to Wayne Parnell, one of South Africa's two debutants, at mid-on.
All the while, Cook had looked on phlegmatically from the non-striker's end, exuding the rediscovered composure that has made him arguably the most prized wicket in the England set-up at present. He survived a tough chance on 4 when Amla at short leg couldn't cling onto a firm push off the pads, but with two more convincing clips off his toes he had moved along to 21 when Morkel struck for the third time in his spell - a full-length delivery that zipped from a leg-stump line to trap Cook on the crease. The decision went to review, and though there was some suspicion of a no-ball, umpire Daryl Harper rightly upheld the onfield decision.
And so, at 39 for 4, it was down to the guts and grit of Collingwood and Bell once again. Of the two, it was Collingwood who set the tempo in an innings of significantly greater aggression to his stonewalling performance at Newlands. With attacking fields in place, there were plenty runs on offer for his favourite clips and nudges, as well as his trademark one-day pull shot, with which he picked off two sixes, including one, off Jacques Kallis, from the very last ball of the session.
By lunch, Collingwood was 44 not out from 55 balls, which was four more runs than he had managed in 133 more deliveries in his previous Test innings. Bell, at the other end, was calmly bedded in on 19 not out, on a pitch that was proving to be as good for batting as Strauss had hoped it would be at the toss. Unfortunately for England, their early collapse had set their prospects back significantly.
Prior to the toss, there were a couple of surprises sprung in the selection of both sides. Parnell's selection at the age of 20 was anticipated from the moment that Friedel de Wet dropped out of contention with a back injury, but the allrounder Ryan McLaren was also chosen for a debut, at the expense of the left-arm spinner, Paul Harris, who was so disappointing in the pivotal fourth innings at Cape Town last week. England, meanwhile, opted to recall Ryan Sidebottom at the expense of Graham Onions, at a venue where swing has often proven to be king.
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