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Donald sends England reeling

Paceman Allan Donald produced his best bowling figures against England, claiming six wickets as South Africa took charge in the first cricket Test today.

Donald finished with six for 53 and fellow seamer Shaun Pollock four for 16 in 14.1 overs as England collapsed to 122 all out in 41.4 overs after just three hours at the crease.

At close of play, South Africa were 64 for 1. The only wicket to fall was that of Gary Kirsten who fell to Allan Mullally for 13 when the score was 37.

Bad light halted play. At stumps were Jacques Kallis on six and Herschelle Gibbs on 28. 16 overs were still to be bowled when the umpires called for the light meter and decided to call it a day.

Play will start 30 minutes earlier tomorrow.

It was a miserable performance by England who, in a dramatic morning session, lost their first four wickets for just two runs -- the worst start in their Test history.

Had it not been for a sixth-wicket stand of 56 between debutant Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff, England would have come close to being bowled out for their worst-ever Test score.

England's lowest scored was 45 against Australia in Sydney 113 years ago.

Vaughan scored 33 off 84 balls, with five fours, while Flintoff made a quickfire 38 off 48 balls, with seven fours, to help England reach 88 for five at lunch.

England lost their opening four wickets for just two runs in 11 balls -- Mike Atherton (0), Nasser Hussain (0), Mark Butcher (1) and Alec Stewart (0).

Donald had taken three wickets for no runs in two overs and Shaun Pollock one for one in two overs in cool, overcast conditions ideal for fast bowling at the Wanderers.

Atherton was the first victim, bowled by a Donald snorter off the final ball of the first over.

Six balls later Hussain was unable to to keep down a Pollock bouncer and skied the ball off the face of his bat to Lance Klusener in the gully.

Four balls into Donald's second over Butcher was caught behind and a ball later Alec Stewart was handed a questionable lbw decision by South African umpire Dave Orchard.

Chris Adams and Vaughan put on 32 for the fifth wicket before Adams became Donald's fourth victim, gloving down a legside catch to wicket-keeper Mark Boucher.

Donald's first spell read: eight overs, three maidens, 28 runs, four wickets. Pollock was one for nine in eight overs.

Any hope of an afternoon revival was quickly squashed as Vaughan became Pollock's second victim two overs after lunch. Twelve overs later the innings was wrapped up.

Scoreboard