South Africa are facing England in a three-match Test series after having won the T20I series against them. They marched on to the first Test with supreme confidence and won the momentum right away after winning the toss. Dean Elgar opted to field first keeping in mind the overcast conditions at Lord’s.
The English openers Alex Lees and Zak Crawley stood clueless against Kagiso Rabada’s wrath. The South African bowler swung the ball in with sheer pace to send shivers down the spine to the England batters. In no time, Alex Lees was back in the hut falling for Rabada’s ball that shaped away from him outside off. The pacer also picked up Zak Crawley’s wicket on the sixth over of his spell as he nicked a straight ball outside off.
Marco Jansen backed up Rabada as he deceived the Three Lions skipper Joe Root with a fullish delivery on the middle stump line. The DRS proved unworthy as it clipped the leg stump to stay with the umpire’s call. Ollie Pope was the only batter who kept up with the South African wrath as wickets kept falling at the other end. Ben Stokes disappeared back to the dressing room after playing a few classy shots.
Olli Pope managed to cross the fifty-run mark while Ben Foakes fumbled on the other end for just six runs. The South African bowlers were all over the English batters until rain interrupted the match right after lunch. Ollie Pope remained unbeaten on sixty-one at a healthy strike rate. The day was called-off due to persistent rains that never looked like stopping.
Prior to the match, Dean Elgar and Ben Stokes had a war of words about England’s ‘Bazball’ approach. The Proteas skipper rubbed off the fuss about England’s approach and added that it won’t work against them. His words might become true unless England fight back harder. The poor batting display sparked a lot of criticism from the spectators and on social media.
Let’s take a look at some of the tweets that spiced up things:
"Three letter word.
Useless as an opener.
Starts with Z…ends with K."#ENGvSA | #ENGvsSA pic.twitter.com/jRzD8Nf1o0
— Sridhar_FlashCric (@SridharBhamidi) August 17, 2022
Middle-stump goes cartwheeling as Jonny Bairstow picks up a 🦆
Anrich Nortje for you, ladies and gentlemen !#ENGvSA #ENGvsSA pic.twitter.com/EM4fovwNCE
— Mr_feiz_17 (@Apka_Apna_JEEJU) August 17, 2022
England's #BazzBall formula didn't work against K Rabada & A Nortje.#ENGvsSA
— Tauqeer Speaks Cricket (@TSpeaksCricket) August 18, 2022
‘England lose an early wicket’ a phrase you can bet your life on. #EngVsSa
— Lord Stu Mattos (@ApexPredator91) August 17, 2022
Crawley & Lees are not international standard.This is the one major issue holding England back & has not been addressed for almost 2 years,with different distinctly average openers & combinations coming in & failing. It will mean we will have many more days like today.😡 #ENGvsSA
— Chirag (@Chig01) August 17, 2022
Proteas “bazbowled” England today. Hope I’m not talking too soon! #ENGvsSA
— Anton Snyman (@anton_snyman) August 17, 2022
When it rains it pours.
When he bats he's bowled.
Another one for Jonny Bairstow through the grand canyon gap between his bat and pad #ENGvsSA #CricketTwitter
— Jamie Garwood (@JamieGarwood) August 17, 2022
What's gone wrong with English batting? Are there no batsman left in England? The top 3 currently, Lees averages 24, Crawley 26 and Pope 31. Why such mediocre batsman are getting to play for so long? @ECB_cricket @bhogleharsha @benstokes38 #SAvsENG #ENGvsSA
— Farhan Khan (@Farhan222) August 17, 2022
Bazball struggling with pace, eh? #ENGvsSA
— Ton Swanson (@darthton) August 17, 2022
'Rain stops play' or 'Rain saves England/Barmy Army from mortification!?' #ENGvSA #ENGvsSA #SAvENG #SAvsENG
— Sharon Solomon (@BSharan_6) August 17, 2022
