Recent Match Report – England vs South Africa 1st Test 2022

South Africa 289 for 7 (Jansen 41*, Rabada 3*) lead England 165 (Pope 73, Rabada 5-52, Nortje 3-63) by 124 runs

But Stokes orchestrated a response through the night session, taking three of the 5 wickets to fall and as soon as once more main from the entrance with a show of bodily depth. Erwee was dislodged by a ferocious bouncer, and Rassie van der Dussen pinned in entrance hanging again in expectation of the quick ball; Stokes then returned on the finish of the day with England flagging to interrupt a 72-run stand for the seventh wicket.

South Africa had gone from 160 for two to 210 for six, simply 45 runs in entrance, earlier than the late counterpunch from Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj consolidated their benefit. Maharaj was caught hooking at Stokes however Jansen confirmed his all-spherical capacity with a volley of boundaries because the shadows lengthened at Lord’s.

The England fightback started with Jack Leach, whose first ball following the tea interval discovered Aiden Markram’s outdoors edge. Stokes then introduced himself on for a spell of quick-pitched bowling, a tactic England have employed with rising regularity, and it didn’t take lengthy to provide the specified consequence as Erwee, who had been unflappable for a lot of the day, was on the receiving finish of a head-searching bouncer that he might solely glove by way of to the keeper.

The menace of the quick ball did for van der Dussen, who was trapped on the crease by a fuller supply and wasted a evaluate in confirming it could have crashed into leg stump. A number of overs later, Stuart Broad discovered Kyle Verreyne’s outdoors edge to document his one hundredth dismissal at Lord’s.

Responding to an England complete that seemed meagre even when positioned within the context of being requested to bat within the hardest circumstances of the match up to now, South Africa set about their innings with a self-discipline that was in line with captain Dean Elgar’s most popular methodology. That didn’t essentially imply enjoying attritionally, although, their scoring charge of three.75 an over comfortably faster than England’s far-flightier batting effort.

Elgar is a personality with little time for frippery and there was a enterprise-like air to his 85-run opening stand with Erwee. The pair set about blunting England’s new-ball assault earlier than lunch, with Elgar efficiently reviewing after being given out caught behind off Broad, after which grew to become extra expansive through the afternoon session. So snug was their progress, as early morning cloud gave method to vivid sunshine, that it was a shock when a stroke of unhealthy luck contributed to Elgar’s downfall simply shy of fifty.

James Anderson had begun his second spell with an unplayable supply on off stump that left Elgar groping blindly. But it was a a lot much less-threatening line of assault that introduced the breakthrough for England, as Elgar tried to work away a leg-facet supply, which deflected off his thigh pad after which into his prime arm earlier than spinning again to bowl him behind his legs – a dismissal as uncommon as any within the profession of Anderson, who claimed his 658th Test wicket, and first as a 40-yr-outdated.

Erwee continued in unruffled style, selecting off drives and whips by way of midwicket on the way in which to his second 50-plus rating in Tests. The most dramatic incident earlier than his dismissal got here when Keegan Petersen went in search of a single that wasn’t there and needed to be despatched again, just for Broad to hurl extensive of the stumps on the non-striker’s finish simply as Stokes raced in to try to pull off a run-out.

Petersen seemed far much less snug, barely surviving Anderson’s spell, however he lasted lengthy sufficient to notch South Africa’s second successive fifty stand earlier than being lured into flashing an edge to the cordon by Matthew Potts.

Watching England this summer time had seeded the expectation that they’d try to “Bazball” their means out of bother on the second morning, however there was little in the way in which of decrease-order fightback to derail South Africa.

The house facet’s finest hope of attending to a rating above 200 lay with Ollie Pope, resuming on 61 not out in a single day. He acquired one other let-off within the first over of the morning, as Erwee unsuccessfully juggled an easy probability at first slip off the bowling of Rabada. But with Broad setting his stall out to swing at each different ball, South Africa gained the breakthrough they have been after on the different finish, Pope venturing a drive in opposition to Rabada solely to see the ball cannon flush into leg stump. His 73 from 102 balls was 53 runs away from England’s subsequent-finest.

The tail eked out just a few extra, with Broad crashing Anrich Nortje by way of the covers earlier than miscuing a Rabada slower ball gently to level. Leach then performed throughout a full one from Jansen to lose his off stump, and Anderson was pinned lbw first ball as Rabada completed England off.