199 curse hits Bell as England in top gear

But on 76 he played round a straight ball from spinner Paul Harris, having faced 124 balls with 10 fours.
Bell went into the 190s with a cheeky reverse sweep four off left-armer Harris before two rain stoppages halted his innings.
In between the showers, Dale Steyn wastefully delivered several short balls at tail-ender Ryan Sidebottom but did not follow-up with a yorker or full-length ball. It was an unintelligent effort from someone ranked the world's leading fast bowler and symptomatic of the Proteas' performance in the field on Friday.
Harris was booed by the crowd when he rubbed his hand in the dirt when it looked as if he was about to bowl.
Then whether through frustration or merely a mistimed shot, Bell became the seventh player in Test history and first Englishman to be out for 199 when he was caught and bowled by Harris off a checked drive.
England captain Michael Vaughan immediately signalled the declaration and that left South Africa needing 394 to avoid the follow-on in the first of this four-Test series. Four members of the Proteas' five-man attack conceded over 100 runs.
The 6ft 6in Morkel, however, did take four wickets for 121 in his 34 overs.Earlier, Pietersen's partnership of 286 with Bell, who'd come in when the hosts were in trouble at 117 for three, was an England fourth-wicket record against South Africa, surpassing the 197 shared by Wally Hammond and Les Ames at Cape Town in 1938/39.
Bell was equally comfortable against both spin and pace, lofting Harris for six over long-off and precisely cutting Morkel through the offside for four.
Arguably the best shot of his innings was when he forced Harris off the backfoot through the covers.
Bell completed his 150 in classic style by driving Steyn straight down the ground for four into the pavilion fence.
He then went past his previous Test-best of 162 not out against minnows Bangladesh at the Riverside three years ago with a cut four off Makhaya Ntini.
Hopes both England's centurions would bat through the morning session ended when Pietersen's gloved hook off Morkel was caught down the legside by wicket-keeper Mark Boucher.
SCOREBOARD
ENGLAND, 1st Innings: (overnight: 309-3)
A. Strauss lbw b Morkel     44
A. Cook c de Villiers b Morkel     60
M. Vaughan b Steyn     2
K. Pietersen c Boucher b Morkel     152
I. Bell c and b Harris     199
P. Collingwood c Amla b Harris     7
T. Ambrose c Smith b Morkel     4
S. Broad b Harris     76
R. Sidebottom not out     1
EXTRAS: (b14, lb12, w7, nb15)     48
TOTAL: (8 wkts dec, 156.2 overs)     593
Fall of wickets: 1-114 (Strauss), 2-117 (Vaughan), 3-117 (Cook), 4-403 (Pietersen), 5-413 (Collingwood), 6-422 (Ambrose), 7-574 (Broad), 8-593 (Bell)
Did not bat: J Anderson, M Panesar
BOWLING:
Steyn     35-8-117-1 (6nb, 6w)
Ntini     29-2-130-0
Morkel     34-3-121-4 (5nb)
Kallis     20-3-70-0 (1w)
Harris     38.2-8-129-3 (4nb)
SOUTH AFRICA, 1st Innings:
G. Smith not out     2
N. McKenzie not out     5
EXTRAS:     0
TOTAL: (0 wkts, 3.2 overs, 14 mins)     7
To bat: H Amla, J Kallis, A Prince, AB de Villiers, M Boucher, P Harris, M Morkel, M Ntini, D Steyn
BOWLING:
Sidebottom     2-0-5-0
Anderson     1.2-0-2-0
Toss: South Africa
Umpires: Daryl Harper (AUS) and Billy Bowden (NZL)
TV umpire: Nigel Llong (ENG)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL).