First Test, day fiveEngland 385 & 240 lose to South Africa 637-2 dec by an innings and 12 runsTHE OVAL - Captain Andrew Strauss says England can draw on recent success to recover from their innings defeat by South Africa.Series wins over Australia, home and away, India and West Indies helped England top the world rankings.But their position is under threat from South Africa, who outplayed them in the first Test at The Kia Oval.“Our attack has taken 20 wickets in almost every game during the last two years and one game shouldn’t dent their confidence too much,” said Strauss.“We need to draw on our reserves of confidence. “The batsmen made mistakes that we need to be sharper on, but I have every confidence that we can come back stronger.The result was England’s first innings defeat on home soil since the fourth Test loss to Australia at Headingley in 2009.England were well-placed after the opening day, with Alastair Cook’s century helping them to 267-3.However, they collapsed to 385 all out on the second day and saw the tourists pile on 637-2, with Hashim Amla becoming the first South African to score a Test triple-century.And England’s misery was complete when they were bowled out just short of tea on the final day, with only Ian Bell and wicketkeeper Matt Prior offering any sort of resistance.It was a perfect 100th Test for South African captain Graeme Smith, who set the tone for South Africa’s dominance with a commanding century before Amla and Jacques Kallis took over.He will now return to South Africa for the birth of his first child, before returning for the second Test at Headingley, starting on 2 August.“It feels amazing, it was a terrific win,” said Smith. “We had to work hard - there wasn’t much in the pitch so to get 20 wickets in the match is an excellent effort by our bowlers.
