Bell and Cook fall but Pietersen solid

South Africa took the early wicket of Ian Bell on the second morning at The Oval and that of Alastair Cook 10 minutes before lunch, but England's new captain, Kevin Pietersen, was unbeaten on a confident 42 as the fourth Test was left intriguingly poised.

Bell has yet to make a hundred at No.3, and he'll have to wait until the second innings at the earliest in order to rectify that. After a thirty-minute delay for rain, Makhaya Ntini found one to hold its line on Bell, who was defending to extra cover, and it took a thick outside edge to Graeme Smith at first slip who held it smartly, low to his right.

Bounding down the steps, and met with warm but subdued applause by the crowd, came Pietersen and he was soon beaten by a shorter delivery from Ntini which held its line. Ntini has lacked the presence which made him such an unstoppable force for South Africa but, though his pace has clearly declined in the last 12 months, he remains a formidable opponent who has become adept at bowling in helpful conditions. Conditions such as today's: grey, gloomy and overcast, and Ntini found just enough movement to trouble Cook and Pietersen. Initially, at any rate.

His natural wide-of-the-crease angle is made for Pietersen's habitual leg-side play, and he was flicked beautifully for four through midwicket. It was a perfect example of the contrast in techniques between two contrasting players. Bell, on the one hand, came forward to defend but could only nick it to slip. Pietersen, to a near-identical delivery, walked across his stumps and mowed it through midwicket. He followed it up with a powerful on-drive and was soon ticking nicely.

Smith quickly withdrew Ntini from the attack, wary of Pietersen's love of anything on his legs, but Morne Morkel was treated with the same disdain, twice pulled through midwicket with power. Cook, meanwhile, struggled with his timing - though, like Pietersen, anything on his legs was dealt with comfortably. Morkel eventually found one to angle across the left-hander, and Cook was lured into a loose, washy waft which is becoming a worrying trend with his off-stump play. Ugly runs are better than none at all, however, and his grafting resilience helped register a third-wicket stand of fifty that was dominated by Pietersen.

England's new captain continued to look in terrific touch, though he was constrained by a disciplined line of attack from Jacques Kallis and Andre Nel. Kallis, in particular, tried to lure Pietersen with repeated outswingers but they were comfortably left alone. And when he did pitch it up, Pietersen responded with an emphatic on-drive straight down the ground. Ntini was brought back into the attack 10 minutes before lunch and induced a thick outside edge from Pietersen, the ball flying past gully, and two balls later Cook attempted to cut him square, but could only edge it to Mark Boucher. He was rightly furious with himself.

Paul Collingwood nearly ran himself out with a frantic single in the penultimate over before lunch, and the match was intriguingly poised with England still trailing by 78.