South Africa cut England down to 116-6 before the rains broke, and the first day of the first Test at Lords was aborted. I had to.
After winning the toss and picking the bowl first, Kagiso Rabada showed his quality with an excellent opening spell describing the England opener. Anrich Nortje then backed him up admirably with a 3-43 and he regularly exceeded 90 mph.
22-year-old lefty Marco Jansen also showed promise, missing Joe his route lbw by just eight. Olly Pope was the only player to offer real resistance for England and he recorded his 61 knots out which was excellent. Meanwhile, captain Ben Stokes was the only other hitter to reach double digits before the rain stopped.
Here are four of his stories from the day's play.
Leeds 'bad' sacking
So far this summer, Leeds have really tried to cement his position. On the side that looked good without scoring a significant score. However, in the opener he got off to a poor start to the South African series when he scored a nick off to Labada at just five.
"That's a bad shot," former England captain Michael his Atherton told Sky in his sporting commentary. "He got away from a loose drive early on, but now he's caught by Lavada."[43][44]But former England spinner Phil Tufnell,[45]BBC[46]tested at Labada in his match special. praised and said: I got in on Lees, but this one stayed there and drew an edge. Really good bowling.
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ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)Crowley's struggle continues
This summer With Crowley averaging 16.77 scoring 151 runs in nine Test innings, the pressure is on. England have favored the first goal many times and he looked more in control against South Africa.
But his second slip from Labada saw him score nine. His position at the side is under scrutiny after being robbed of Former England quick Chris Stremlet tweeted, "Continuing to play Crawley is doing more harm than good he is now. Time for a change."
Meanwhile, former England spinner Vic Marks told his BBC Test Match Special: The point to ask yourself as a selector is that by continuing to pick him when he's clearly not in the best shape, we're doing him a favor.
``We live in a time when loyalty matters, but if you are so loyal that he keeps failing, you do him no favors. Because you gave it a chance it's like you're writing him so it gets bigger and bigger to bring him back sometimes when you feel like they're not right I think you're doing them a favor if you drop the early."
Images:adrian dennis/afp via getty images)
Pope rises
Stokes, the only other top player to reach double digits with 20, Pope's unbeaten half-century was a great innings and one for England. It was important. By this summer he had batted three in first-class cricket, but had notable scores of 145 against New Zealand where he had 82 and against South Africa with 61, and in the role shows some real promise.
"He's doubled. Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkala told Sky Sports. Really full. Drive. Short and wide. Hit it on the slip." That kind of commitment is really important, and even when he left the ball, it turned out to be an aggressive, positive, decisive leave, and Pope was in control." He told Match Special: He came in early with wickets falling all around him but he is still playing aggressively.The only plus for England is that their number 3 is still in trouble.
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Gareth Copley/Getty Images)Nortje Milestones
Show the fastest bowler in the match Nortje won several times, running early in his spell but bounced back and picked up his first wicket by bowling an in-form Bearstow to a duck. and reached the milestone of 50 Test wickets in his 13th match. It ripped the heart out of England's dangerous middle order. South African legend Sean Pollock told Sky Sports: With cloud cover, the ball will probably nip – they're four fast bowlers.
"A great quartet. Nortje deserves to run in and throw the ball as fast as he can.
Rain ended early
As expected, heavy rain, thunder and lightning forced play to cover after 2:00 p.m. had to be discontinued early. The return of rain as Test cricket resumes is a frustrating sight for fans who have experienced only two weeks of heat waves. has come to an end, forcing us to call off an exciting day of cricket. England will resume tomorrow 116-6, with most hopes resting on Pope and Atherton thinking he needs around 220 to remain competitive.
"This is in the early stages of a game in his series of five-day games and his three matches, so not many firm conclusions can be drawn yet," he said. told Sky Sports. "England did well in the early part of the summer, remained competitive when it was tough and found winning positions in the second half of the game." There are bowlers available to take advantage of. England's aim is to get some sort of score to stay competitive. Somewhere around that 220 mark."