Ian Bell took over from Kevin Pietersen as the main man here today, completing a wonderful century that should put to bed any doubts about his right to a place in England's team.

Pietersen's brilliant knock against the country of his birth finally ended on 152 when he gloved an attempted hook against South African fast bowler Morne Morkel. By then, however, Bell had also reached three figures and Michael Vaughan's men were in complete control of the npower First Test.

Bell's future had been the subject of debate following a poor series against New Zealand. In this innings, though, he has looked the real deal again while helping England to reach 422 for five before rain prompted an early lunch.

His century came from 181 balls and included 11 fours while Pietersen's four and-a-half-hour masterpiece contained one six and 20 other boundaries.

With England past 400 in the first innings for the first time in 13 Tests there should have no cause for complaint in the home dressing room. But, following a brief interruption for drizzle, Paul Collingwood was the victim of an umpiring error by Billy Bowden.

Like Bell, Collingwood came into this match amid speculation that he could be replaced by Andrew Flintoff next week. And the Durham man will feel worse now, having been given out caught at short leg for seven off left-arm spinner Paul Harris.

TV replays showed the ball struck only pad, and missed bat by quite a distance, before reaching Hashim Amla a couple of yards from the bat.

Pietersen said it was vital for England to make the most of their overnight position - and both he and Bell came out this morning bristling with determination to bury South Africa under an avalanche of runs.

The visitors knew they had missed a big chance when failing to build enough pressure with the new ball. Now they were struggling to prevent England from racing to a huge total.

Bell set the tone for the session by clipping Dale Steyn off his legs for four and, with the stand already above 200,

England had a new record fourth-wicket partnership against South Africa to crow about.

No one has ever doubted Bell's pedigree as a batsman. Technically, he is spot-on and the crispness of his strokeplay brings envious glances from players with even better records. But the doubts have been over his ability to score big runs at the highest level when they are most needed.

This innings should do the trick so far as easing that concern.

When the 26-year-old Warwickshire player walked to the crease yesterday, England had lost three wickets in the space of 13 balls and, from a position of promise, were suddenly wobbling at 117 for three. Even worse, Pietersen looked nervous - even if he later insisted he wasn't - and seemed to be a run-out victim waiting to happen.

What a great time, then, for Bell to play with real authority. And even when he became becalmed in the 40s it was no doubt because he remembered having "given it away" too many times.

Resuming today on 75, Bell was soon driving beautifully again while Pietersen put away several loose deliveries from both Steyn and Makhaya Ntini with relish.

Between them, South Africa's two strike bowlers conceded 69 runs from 11 overs. They may well have a big say in the outcome of this series but this was not the start they had planned when mapping out what might be achieved at the home of cricket.

It was left to Jacques Kallis to try to stop the rot, and the all-rounder should have done that when Pietersen, on 133, offered him a sharpish return catch.

Kallis grabbed at the ball, away to his left, but could not hang on.

Bell reached his hundred by driving Kallis though the covers for two. His eighth century in 40 Tests was an effort which fully deserved the hug he received from Pietersen.

Then it was Pietersen's turn to raise his bat again, this time for passing 150.

But an even more significant milestone was reached when England's total rose to 400. They had failed to reach those good but less than dizzy firstinnings heights for 12 consecutive Tests and it was a statistic that needed putting straight.

Finally, well into the second hour of the day, South Africa found something to shout about. Morkel dug in another delivery, Pietersen went for the hook and a gloved catch down the legside nestled safely in Mark Boucher's gloves to end an innings of 152.

Lord's rose again to Pietersen as he walked off. As for South Africa, they were simply glad to see the back of him at last.

Despite the brief stoppage for rain, and Collingwood's unfortunate demise, the future of Test cricket has looked wonderfully secure at Lord's this week. Appearances can be deceptive, though.

For example, next summer's proposed tour of England by Sri Lanka - confirmed earlier this week by the England Cricket Board after they had sought a replacement for Zimbabwe - looks anything but settled now and may have to be scrapped altogether because it clashes with the 2009 Indian Premier League.

Faced with the determination of their top 13 players to honour lucrative IPL contracts, cricket bosses in Colombo have backed down from a potential fight by agreeing to let them go to India during May when two Tests and three one-day internationals have been scheduled here.