Twitter Reactions: Clinical South Africa halt England juggernaut with innings win at Lord's

Dean Elgar's impressive side takes a 1-0 lead in the series after a commanding performance in the Lord's Test against England.

By Chaitanya Prakash

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England vs South Africa first Test
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England vs South Africa first Test. (Photo Source: Twitter/EnglandCricket)

England’s rollicking red-ball juggernaut has finally been halted as Dean Elgar-led South Africa subjected them to a harrowing defeat in the first Test at Lord’s on Friday, by an innings and 12 runs inside just three days as the bullish  visitors drew first blood in the series.

Ben Stokes tasted his first defeat as the skipper of the side after taking over the reins from Joe Root as his side had no answers to the belligerent Protean pace attack. England were hopeful of turning things around on the third day after South Africa took a healthy lead of 124 runs.

The mood in the English camp was lifted as the veteran Stuart Broad pulled off a special catch in the first over of the morning to dismiss Kagiso Rabada. The visitors managed to add 37 runs to their overnight score to take the lead to a substantial 161 runs after a handy cameo from Anrich Nortje.

The English batters had no answer against the bowling unit of the visitors and Elgar brought on Keshav Maharaj quite early in the innings to surprise many, including opener Zak Crawley, who was caught plumb in front by the spinner on just his third delivery in the match.

The Proteas pacers made light work of the English batters for the second time in the Test

Maharaj then landed another blow by dismissing England’s top scorer in the first innings, Ollie Pope, after going upstairs to overturn the umpire’s decision. But it was Lungi Ngidi who put the dagger through the heart of the English batting order by claiming the prized wicket of Joe Root, his first in the match.

Anrich Nortje backed up his performance in the first innings by dishing out another blistering spell, scalping three quick wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Alex Lees, and Ben Foakes with impeccable lines and lengths. But the express pacer was punished severely by Broad, who played an entertaining cameo in a 55-run stand with skipper Ben Stokes. South Africa’s star of the match with the ball, Kagiso Rabada, ended Broad’s mischievous rearguard action as the Proteas pacers ran through the tail without much delay.

 

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