England all out cheaply after Paul Collingwood is derailed

Tea Someone must have had a word in the South Africa dressing room at lunchtime. They had been so profligate in the last hour of the morning, but after the break their discipline returned and so, steadily, did disconsolate England batsmen to the pavilion. By tea England were all out for 180. There were not many free hits in the afternoon. Paul Collingwood's express-train innings was stalled and then derailed. A leading edge to cover gave Ryan McLaren his first Test wicket. Then Dale Steyn produced the dismissal of the match so far. He toyed with Ian Bell with brisk outswingers – the old ball kept swinging here – and then he produced a peach of an inswinger, which penetrated Bell's forward defensive. This was the equivalent of a wrist-spinner's googly duping the batsman. Sublime. Thereafter England adopted the gung-ho approach and although there were a few lusty blows struck, by Matt Prior, Stuart Broad and especially Graeme Swann, the resistance here was never likely to be prolonged. The ball was doing too much for Steyn in particular. The South African spearhead may have been unlucky in Cape Town but here he got his just rewards for a spell of hostility, high pace and skill. He found consistent movement in the air and his bouncer, which accounted for Prior, was perfectly directed. There are wickets out there, yet 180 feels under par. The clouds are thickening. There is thunder in the air. England need desperately early wickets preferably from Ryan Sidebottom, their surprise selection . Poor Sidebottom looked a trifle rusty with the bat against Steyn at full tilt. Lunch The first shock was not the deepest. There was a buzz around the ground when it transpired that England's hero of Centurion and Newlands, Graham Onions, had been dropped and replaced by Ryan Sidebottom. But for England supporters this was easy to cope with compared with what followed when the game actually started. A stunned Andrew Strauss, who had chosen to bat, was out first ball to a brilliant catch off the face of his bat, thus becoming the fifth England batsman to be out to the opening delivery of a Test match and the first since 1936. Strauss played a loosener from Dale Steyn off his hip and Hashim Amla, in an unusual and, no doubt, carefully conceived position just behind square on the leg-side and about nine feet from the bat, held a reflex catch in his outstretched right hand. England were clearly unnerved by the loss of their captain. Jonathan Trott, who has, at least, radiated calm throughout the series, was all at sea in his brief stay, driving wildly, edging a boundary to fine-leg and then playing around a full-length delivery from Morne Morkel. Kevin Pietersen failed to settle any English nerves either. Once again his footwork was awry and he was beaten by several superb deliveries from Morkel. He almost ran out Alastair Cook in pursuit of his first run. Then he pulled a short ball from Morkel straight to Wayne Parnell at mid-on. Cook had been the only batsman suggesting permanence, but now he was given lbw on review. The England balcony appeared outraged that the decision was not overturned by the third umpire, Daryl Harper – no stranger to the odd controversy. There they could easily convince themselves that Morkel had delivered a no-ball (there was less doubt about the ball hitting the stumps). It was a tight call for Harper to make, but, in fact, close scrutiny of the television pictures suggested that Morkel's front foot just broke the line before sliding forward in the act of delivery. This constitutes a legal ball but it was understandably hard for those in the England dressing room to come to that conclusion. That represented England's nadir. In the second hour a spirited recovery was launched. Paul Collingwood revealed his alter ego and played his shots at every opportunity; Ian Bell hung on gamely. The final shot of the session contrasted vividly with the first. Collingwood rocked on to the back foot and pulled a short ball from Jacques Kallis into the stands, his second six of the morning, to take England to three figures. A riveting morning, South Africa's morning, but it could have been worse for England.