By Andy Wilson
Jonathan Trott and James Vince steered England Lions out of a sticky situation with a patient fourth-wicket partnership on the second day against South Africa A in Paarl.
The Lions slipped to 67 for three in reply to the home team’s 504 for eight declared when Rory Kleinveldt ended a breezy innings of 41 by Sam Robson in the first over after tea.
But Vince joined Trott to bat for the rest of the evening session, with the captain reaching an unbeaten 56 from 125 balls and Vince ending the day on 43 from 101.
Trott had clipped his first ball crisply to the mid-wicket boundary then repeated the shot for another three, but had to show the discipline and restraint for which he became famous as the experienced home seamers bowled tightly on the slow pitch.
Vince was also restricted to singles early in his innings but the pair became more expansive late in the day, Trott continuing to play strongly off his pads while the Hampshire man unfurled a series of classic cover drives.
The Lions had been made to labour for almost three hours in the field before South Africa A declared immediately after the 22-year-old debutant Theunis de Bruyn reached a highly impressive double century,
Mark Wood took the only wicket of the morning session, finally winning an lbw decision to dismiss the wicketkeeper Rudi Second, before Ryan McLaren joined de Bruyn to add 90 for the sixth wicket.
Then Liam Plunkett made a double breakthrough after lunch, exactly as he had done on the first day. He bowled McLaren off the inside edge, and then yorked Chris Morris, ending with figures of 4-91 from 26 overs.
Wood took a second wicket in his 30th over, bowling Kleinveldt with a beauty just before the declaration, the others having fallen to Boyd Rankin and Adam Lython Sunday.
Lyth fell in the fourth over of the Lions reply, lbw to a full inswinging delivery from Morris, one of four seamers with international experience in the South Africa A attack.
Robson counter-attacked by stroking six boundaries off his first 19 balls, but Alex Lees was undone by the lack of pace in the pitch and bowled off the inside edge by Kleinveldt just before tea, and the Middlesex opener fell in similar fashion chopping on four overs later – leaving the Lions grateful to Trott and Vince for their calm recovery.
“It’s the first session we’ve won properly in the match, and it’s starting to get us back into the game,” said the Lions coach Mark Robinson. “They showed patience, and got their rewards in the last 40 minutes or so.”
But Robinson also praised the bowlers for an improvement on their first-day performance. “I think we got caught cold a bit, although that’s probably not the best phrase to use given the temperatures,” he added.
“We came into this game with one warm-up which was pretty low-key, whereas they’re in the middle of their season and battle-hardened. I think the second game in Bloemfontein will be a better measure of the sides, but I thought the guys responded well on day two and that’s encouraging.”