PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (AFP) - Andrew Strauss hit his third Test century to "lay down a marker for the series" as England moved into the driving seat on the second day of the first Test against South Africa at St George's Park yesterday.

England batsman Andrew Strauss on his way to scoring 120 not out at St George's Park cricket stadium in Port Elizabeth yesterday (Photo: AFP)

Strauss made an unbeaten 120 as England reached 227 for one at the close in reply to South Africa's 337.
Strauss shared an opening stand of 152 with Marcus Trescothick before Trescothick was bowled for 47 by Dale Steyn, South Africa's debutant fast bowler.

Strauss kept up a remarkable record of scoring centuries on Test debut against all the opponents he has come up against. But it was his first international century away from Lord's, headquarters of his county, Middlesex.

He said: "The important thing against any new opponent is to knuckle down and make runs early in a series. From a team point of view it was important for us to lay down a marker for the series."
Called into the side because of an injury to captain Michael Vaughan, Strauss made 112 against New Zealand in May and followed up with 137 in the first Test against the West Indies, also at Lord's. He also hit a one-day international hundred against the West Indies at Lord's.

He was seldom troubled yesterday as South Africa's bowlers struggled on a docile pitch. He hurried to 50 off 74 balls but needed another 120 deliveries before reaching his century. He reached the mark with an on-drive for four off Makhaya Ntini in the same over as the floodlights were switched on because of fading light.

South Africa's lone success was achieved by Steyn, 21, playing in his eighth first-class match. Steyn built up impressive pace and was timed at 147.6 kmh in his first over.
But, together with the other South African bowlers, he did not make the batsmen play enough. Steyn also had trouble with no-balls, being called for overstepping eight times in a five-over opening spell.

SCOREBOARD

South Africa, first innings
(overnight 273-7)
G Smith c Strauss b Hoggard 0
A de Villiers lbw b Flintoff 28
J Rudolph c G Jones b Flintoff 93
J Kallis b Harmison 0
H Dippenaar c Trescothick b S Jones 110
Z de Bruyn b Flintoff 6
S Pollock c G Jones b Hoggard 31
A Hall b Hoggard 6
T Tsolekile c Flintoff b Giles 22
M Ntini not out 2
D Steyn c Strauss b Giles 8
Extras (lb13, nb14, w4) 31

Total (110.4 overs) 337

Falls: 1-0, 2-63, 3-66, 4-178, 5-192, 6-253, 7-261, 8-324, 9-327
Bowling: Hoggard 20-4-56-3 (2nb), Harmison 25-2-88-1 (3w), S Jones 16-4-39-1 (3nb), Flintoff 22-4-72-3 (8nb, 1w), Giles 27.4-8-69-2

England, first innings

M Trescothick b Steyn 47
A Strauss not out 120
M Butcher not out 24
Extras (lb12, nb23, w1) 36
Total (1 wkt, 66 overs) 227
Fall: 1-152

Bowling: Pollock 18-9-25-0 (4nb), Ntini 16-1-58-0 (1w), Steyn 11-1-45-1 (10nb), Hall 13-0-54-0 (6nb), De Bruyn 3-0-18-0 (3nb), Smith 5-1-15-0

To bat: M Vaughan, G Thorpe, A Flintoff, G Jones, A Giles, M Hoggard, S Jones, S Harmison
Umpires: S Taufel (AUS) and D Hair (AUS)
Television umpire: I Howell (RSA)
Match referee: C Lloyd (WIS)

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