Morne Morkel saw off Andrew Strauss in quick time at Uxbridge this morning to serve notice of the threat his extra pace will pose to England this summer.

Strauss appeared set to make a point against South Africa's much-touted attack as Middlesex began their reply to 359 for five declared.

But first change Morkel cut the England opener off in his prime, in a Middlesex total of 63 for one by lunch on day two.

Strauss opted to play in this tour match - before the first Test starts at Lord's next week - and was into his stride with two boundaries in a first over from Dale Steyn which cost 15 runs.

Strauss and his fellow left-hander Billy Godleman continued to bat with purpose against new-ball pair Steyn and Makhaya Ntini, and the England batsman looked in good form with five convincing boundaries in his 29 - before Morkel struck, in only his second over.

Granted the chance to bowl on an outground pitch with notable pace and carry, Morkel was soon thudding the ball high into wicketkeeper Mark Boucher's gloves.

It was one such delivery which Strauss attempted to deflect for runs fine on the leg-side, only to be undone by the Morkel factor and got caught behind.

Youngsters Godleman and Dawid Malan were therefore required to deal with Morkel and Co for the remainder of the session - and duly did so without major alarm but plenty of necessary concentration.

South Africa's overnight centurion Ashwell Prince (114) and AB de Villiers had earlier shown little obvious urgency in half-an-hour's batting, as the tourists added 20 runs in 8.3 overs.

It was Prince's dismissal which brought the declaration just before it would have become mandatory in the 100th over.

South Africa were clearly concerned with preparation for the Test series rather than burgling extra runs off the Middlesex attack - and each batsman allowed several balls to pass by, taking only what was easily on offer with minimal risk.

For the record, Prince's accomplished 206-ball innings ended when Eoin Morgan intercepted a crunching cut shot off Danny Evans to take an athletic catch at point.

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