The Unfortunate Banishment of South African Captain Dean Elgar from the First Test Against England

The attempt by Dean Elgar to work James Anderson’s delivery off his pads was unsuccessful. The ball, though, grazed the thigh protector and then bounced back off his right arm before it reached the stumps.

On Day 2 of the first test match that is currently being played at the Lord’s Cricket Ground, South Africa bowled out England for a meagre score of 165. Kagiso Rabada took a magnificent five-wicket haul during the victory. In response, South Africa made a strong beginning to their innings, led by skipper Dean Elgar and opening batsman Sarel Erwee. Elgar and Erwee put on 85 runs for the first wicket before Elgar was taken out of the game in one of the unluckiest possible circumstances. Elgar attempted to work James Anderson’s delivery off of his pads, but he was unsuccessful. The ball, though, grazed the thigh protector and then bounced back off his right arm before it reached the stumps.

Elgar was declared out caught behind by Stuart Broad, but an immediate review proved that the ball had hit his pad rather than the bat. This is notable because Broad was the one who gave Elgar the out.

Also, the southpaw was batting on seven when he edged Matthew Potts, but Zak Crawley dropped a head-high slip catch that slipped between his hands. This allowed Matthew Potts to go to second base.

Earlier, Rabada completed his innings with the figures of 5 for 52 in 19 overs. This marked the 12th occasion that he got five wickets in an innings during a test.

Anrich Nortje had followed up Rabada’s first impressive work with capturing three wickets, including the valued scalp of in-form Jonny Bairstow for a duck. This was the highlight of Nortje’s performance after Rabada’s initial success.

The only other specialist England batsman to reach double figures was Ollie Pope, who struck 73, and Ben Stokes, who is both the captain of England and an all-rounder. Stokes’ score of 20 was the next-best contribution.

After making the transition to an all-out assault strategy, England has been led by its new leadership tandem of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, and they have won all four of their Test matches.