• All-rounder's three wickets in 15 balls skittled South Africa
• Ian Bell's 'career-saving' knock built big first-innings lead
Paul Weaver in Durban, guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 December 2009 20.10 GMT, Article history
Ian Bell sets off on another run on his way to 141 – his ninth Test century but first for 17 months – as England moved into a commanding position on day four. Photograph: Paul Gilham/Getty Images
England's cricketers enjoyed their best day on a foreign field for five years today when they reduced South Africa at one stage to 50 for six, with Stuart Broad taking three wickets for one run in the space of 15 deliveries.
The tourists will resume tomorrow morning within touching distance of victory in the second Test after South Africa closed the fourth day on 76 for six, 156 runs behind England, who declared on 575 for nine.
Broad's extraordinary spell erased his Kingsmead nightmare. It was on this ground in 2007 that he was hit for six sixes in one over by Yuvraj Singh in the inaugural World Twenty20. But today the Nottinghamshire all-rounder stunned South Africa by taking the wickets of the key batsmen Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy. Bizarrely, not one of them offered a stroke.
Graeme Swann also took three wickets to add to the four he claimed in the first innings as the shell-shocked home side crumbled. It added up to England's best day overseas since they beat South Africa in the penultimate Test in Johannesburg five years ago before going on to take the series.
Earlier in the day Ian Bell scored his ninth Test century - his first since July 2008 - to put England in a commanding position, and the Warwickshire batsman said: "The whole day has been exactly what we wanted. [Andrew] Strauss asked us to win the first hour. He told us not to let them get two or three wickets. We did that and moved on. I didn't expect it to go like it did but when you have been in the field for so long, as they were, it can go a little flat and we sensed that. The important thing in the morning was not to let them back in.
"The ball started reversing, which was the key to those three wickets by Broad. If you put the ball in the right place on top of off stump, it's difficult for batsmen. It was a real good display from an improving young bowler again."
Bell said that he had talked to Broad about his Yuvraj experience before the Test. "I sat with him before the game and started joking about that over to him. I don't think anything fazes him. He will keep running in all day and tonight was a great example of how he is maturing all the time. He just seems to shrug things off and the next day is just another day. His height and the length he bowls makes him tricky for any batsmen. He asks questions all the time."
It was Bell's sharp catch at silly point to dismiss Ashwell Prince which started the rout. Swann, England's man of the series to date, went on to take the wickets of all South Africa's top three, bowling Hashim Amla through the gate and finally having the hosts' captain, Graeme Smith, lbw.
Bell's innings had kept South Africa in the field for 170 overs and was described by the opposition fast bowler Dale Steyn as a "career-saving" knock. His last hundred was his 199 against South Africa 17 months ago and Bell said: "I hadn't scored a hundred this year. It was nice to give us enough scoreboard pressure for our bowlers to go out and get six wickets. I knew I needed an innings to save my place. There's talk about whether we play five or six batters. I needed that, there's no doubt about that."
Before play started Paul Collingwood dislocated his left index finger in practice, though a fracture was later ruled out. However tonight it was South Africa who looked in disarray after their batsmen had performed as woefully as their bowlers.......LINK
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