Bairstow takes a shine to a duck
Anrich Nortje has arrived at the party, and the score is at 55–4 with around 40 minutes left until lunch. And Bairstow’s dismissal strategy is the same as it has always been: full, fast, and straight. Bruises the stumps, which in turn causes Nortje to let forth a roar.
What strategy will Ben Stokes employ to deal with this predicament? And what about Ollie Pope, have we discussed him yet? In spite of the fact that the summer has presented bowlers with ideal conditions, he has punished anything that is either too full or too short on his way to a score of 29 off 43.
Joe Rooooot is gonnnneeee
Oh, Marco Jansen, he’s so unfortunate, and in such a way! Although he had some trouble getting his line perfect during the first few deliveries, he was able to get the key wicket of Root with the 11th ball. Hits the pad after a complete pitch, which is successful in overcoming Root’s whip. Nitin Menon was persuaded by the umpire’s ruling on impact (the ball just nicked the top of the leg stump), but the reviewer in Root may not have been. Mark Boucher is heard saying on air that the play “looked terrific in real time” and that “you could see why that was given out.”
Both openers have been put away in their respective hutches.
Once more, it seemed like only a matter of time before it happened. Crawley barely avoided being hit by a leading edge on the ball that came before, but on the ball that came after that, he edged the ball down to the slip cordon. Following a successful catch by Aiden Markram, Joe Root walks off the field.
Early defeat for Lees
Because it has been helping Kagiso Rabada in some way, it should not come as a surprise if he has the first strike in this match. He bowls over the wicket to Lees, who is batting left-handed. Lees attempts an expansive drive, but he hits the ball straight to the keeper. What’s the catch? After sliding deliveries across the left-hander, Rabada was successful in getting this one to stay its line. When Lees edged the ball over the slip cordon earlier in the over, he had an opportunity to escape, but he was unable to do so this time.
Ngidi and Rabada will bowl with the new ball after Ollie Pope is run out by a combination of three slips and a gully.
A game of toss and teams.
South Africa has made the decision to… not allow England chase after them. Well, well. They are going to bowl first, which almost definitely has more to do with the clouds that are currently in the sky. The positive development for them is that Kagiso Rabada, whose fitness had been a concern going into the match, passes all of the examinations on game day and is selected for the team. Ben Foakes was brought back into the England team that competed against India to replace Sam Billings. Prior to the match, England had already revealed their starting XI. The starting eleven is as follows…
South Africa: Dean Elgar(c), Sarel Erwee, Keegan Petersen, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne(w), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi
