Rabada, Erwee put South Africa firmly in front

SOUTH Africa finished the day just like they started it. If the second morning was all about Kagiso Rabada making it to the Lord’s honours board, the evening was about a salvaging stand between Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj, which could prove to be the difference between the teams in the end.

South Africa went to stumps on Day 2 at 289-7, having totalled a crucial 124-run lead after bowling England out for only 165 earlier in the day.
With the ball, Rabada stood out with figures of 5 for 52 while Sarel Erwee’s 73 and a 72-run stand between Jansen and Maharaj ensured that the visitors finished the day with their noses in front.

It really didn’t look like either Rabada or Erwee’s day when Pope was dropped at slip in the first over of the morning.
The sun was out and the pitch looked settled, but on top of that, it was about all of Rabada’s hard work going to waste: he had set Pope up with sucker full lengths before the edge-extracting length ball. That moment might have been gone but an over later, Rabada took it upon himself to dislodge Pope with an inside-edged drive.

Rabada of course didn’t stop there. His fourth wicket was a lovely slower ball to outwit Stuart Broad who was brandishing his bat at anything and everything.
Jack Leach hit a couple of boundaries off Marco Jansen but it wasn’t going to last for too long and he ended up missing one against the lanky left-arm pacer. Fittingly, Rabada capped off the innings by trapping James Anderson in front from over-the-wicket – a dismissal that delivered him to his five-for.

England started with four slips in place but the closest they came to picking a wicket before lunch was an overturned caught-behind against Dean Elgar. The South Africa captain had another close shave when an outside edge bounced off his bat and over a leaping Zak Crawley at slip.

On the other side of the break, it was all Elgar and Erwee. In an extended 150-minute afternoon session, South Africa totalled 131 runs, most of it thanks to an imperious 85-run opening stand between Elgar and Sarel Erwee.

Like Erwee, Elgar too looked solid until he fell three short of his fifty, deflecting a leg-side delivery off his thigh and onto the stumps. England, to be fair, needed some luck at that point in time, so easily were the runs coming, and it took James Anderson to come back and make that happen. Until then, Matty Potts and Ben Stokes had been hospitable with the lines and lengths they bowled.

Potts, though, made a comeback in the last half-hour before tea when he got Keegan Petersen caught at third slip.
Post tea, Ben Stokes did what he does all the time. A well-set Erwee was taken out by a lifter and Rassie van der Dussen sent back with an in-ducker that hit the pad flush in front.
Stuart Broad joined in too, making Verreynne his 100th scalp at Lord’s but a late partnership for the seventh wicket ensured that South Africa owned another day, even though it left a lot to be desired in terms of the number of overs bowled.

(Crcbuzz)

ENGLAND 1st innings o/n 116-6
Alex Lees c Kyle Verreynne b Kagiso Rabada 5
Zak Crawley c Aiden Markram b Kagiso Rabada 9
Ollie Pope b Kagiso Rabada 73
Joe Root lbw Marco Jansen 8
Jonny Bairstow b Anrich Nortje 0
Ben Stokes c Keegan Petersen b Anrich Nortje 20
Ben Foakes b Anrich Nortje 6
Stuart Broad c Dean Elgar b Kagiso Rabada 15
Matthew Potts not out 6
Jack Leach b Marco Jansen 15
James Anderson lbw Kagiso Rabada 0
Extras: (b-1, lb-7) 8
Total: (all out, 45.0 overs) 165
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-25, 3-42, 4-55, 5-100, 6-116, 7-134, 8-145, 9-164.
Bowling: Kagiso Rabada 19-3-52-5, Lungi Ngidi 5-1-12-0, Marco Jansen 8-1-30-2, Anrich Nortje 13-2-63-3.

SOUTH AFRICA 1st innings
Dean Elgar b James Anderson 47
Sarel Erwee c Ben Foakes b Ben Stokes 73
Keegan Petersen c Jonny Bairstow b Matthew Potts 24
Aiden Markram c Ben Foakes b Jack Leach 16
Rassie van der Dussen lbw Ben Stokes 19
arco Jansen not out 41
Kyle Verreynne c Ben Foakes b Stuart Broad 11
Keshav Maharaj c Matthew Potts b Ben Stokes 41
Kagiso Rabada not out 3
Extras: (lb-10, nb-3, w-2) 14
Total: (seven wkts, 77.0 overs) 289
Fall of wickets: 1-85 Elgar, 2-138 Petersen, 3-160 Markram, 4-187 Erwee, 5-192 van der Dussen, 6-210 Verreynne, 7-282 Maharaj.
Bowling: James Anderson 18-3-51-1, Stuart Broad 17-2-66-1 (nb-1), Matthew Potts 16-1-67-1, (w-1), Ben Stokes 12-3-53-3 (nb-1), Jack Leach 14-3-42-1 (nb-1).