England vs South Africa LIVE: Cricket result from first Test as England thrashed by an innings after batting collapse
England were all out for 149 in the second innings to lose by an innings and 12 runs at Lord’s
England were blown away by South Africa inside three days to lose the first Test of the series by and innings and 12 runs.
The humbling defeat at Lord’s is the first of the new Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum era and puts the Proteas 1-0 up with two Tests to play.
England were firmly behind from the get-go after losing the toss on day one and coming up short with the bat mustering just 165 in the first innings.
A resolute first dig of 326 in reply by Dean Elgar’s tourists put them firmly in control with a lead of 161 on first innings before they comprehensively ran through the hosts’ batting order again dismissing them for 149 with Anrich Nortje’s three wickets doing the bulk of the damage.
Victory was brought up inside six sessions of play and before tea on the third day without them having to bat again. Follow the reaction and analysis from the first Test below:
South Africa 290-8 - Jansen 42, Nortje 0; England 165
79th over: Ben Stokes bowling from the other end. A Durham double in the attack for England. Jansen gets the first run of the morning with a flick to leg for a single before Nortje is treated to some short bowling. He avoids any damage though.
South Africa 289-8 - Jansen 41, Nortje 0; England 165
78th over: Wow. What a start to the morning for England. Exactly what they needed. The rest of the over passes with little of note as Anrich Nortje is the man in at No 10.
WICKET! Rabada c Broad, b Potts 3 - South Africa 289-8
WOW! What a start for England! A couple of bouncers from Potts that Rabada sways out of the way of before he pulls another short one and Stuart Broad takes a PHENOMENAL catch!
Leaps into the air like a salmon at wide mid-on, raises a hand and it sticks! Unbelievable grab. Wow!
England vs South Africa
Right, here we go. Matty Potts steaming in for the first over with Kagiso Rabada on strike
Play about to get underway
OK, the players are just heading out, so we’ll be getting underway shortly. As a reminder, South Africa ended day two on 289-7 - 124 runs ahead of England.
Marco Jansen (41 not out) and Kagiso Rabada (3 not out) are at the crease. Jansen put on a very entertaining partnership of 72 with Keshav Maharaj before Ben Stokes bounced out the latter and he showed he knows how to swing a bat.
Forecast set fair
Some good news on the weather front at Lord’s. It’s currently dry and the forecast suggests there’s no rain due today - the wet weather of day one feels increasingly like a distant memory.
There is plenty of cloud cover, which should help England’s swing bowlers, although they’ll be eager to be batting themselves as soon as possible, so that could prove to be a double-edged sword...
Jack Leach promises England will stick at it and fight back
England certainly won’t be giving up the ghost in this game, according to spinner Jack Leach.
"We are behind in the game, but we've stuck at it really well," Leach told Sky Sports at the end of day two. "We are always trying to take wickets, that's our mindset. We could have had a few more, but we just have to keep at it.
"I felt like we were creating half-chances and we have to believe we can take them. It's the way it goes, we are just thinking about how to impact the game in front of us and not about the scoreboard.”
Leach bowled superbly in the evening session and while he deservedly took the wicket of Aiden Markram, could easily have had a couple more.
"I felt like I had nothing to lose and could just go for it, spin the ball hard and see what is in the surface," he added.
"I feel that belief in me now. I have confidence having played enough Test cricket. You get that confidence through performances.
"When I get into a rhythm, I feel I have more control and energy. It's about not rushing things. If you feel excitement and nerves you can rush through your run-up."
Sarel Erwee say South Africa remain confident
South Africa opener Sarel Erwee top-scored for the Proteas on day two with 73 and then witnessed an entertaining 72-run stand for the seventh wicket between Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj that shifted the momentum back to the visitors after England’s post-tea burst.
Earlier in the day, Kagiso Rabada got himself on the Lord’s honours board with a five-fer that helped dismiss the hosts for 165 and Erwee is confident his team are still in control.
Erwee said: “We have got a bit of momentum with that partnership at the back end and with one of our bowlers getting a five-fer. If we rock up again with the same energy, I am sure we will stay ahead of the game.”
Stuart Broad backs Jimmy Anderson to keep going “for as long as he wants”
On day two, Broad himself got Kyle Verreynne to edge behind for his 100th Test wicket at Lord’s while Jack Leach, Matthew Potts and James Anderson all claimed scalps.
The latter celebrated his first Test wicket since turning 40 earlier this month and his partner in crime backed him to keep going.
Broad said: “It’s really special to see. I look at Jimmy and he’s not really changed physically since he was 35.
“As long as he keeps that competitive spirit and enjoyment, he can go for as long as he wants.”
Stuart Broad impressed by skipper Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes battled through left knee pain to bring England back into the first Test towards the end of day two and Stuart Broad - who took his 100th wicket at Lord’s during the day’s play - was impressed by his skipper.
Broad said: “He’s doing OK. I think his knee just jars a little bit on the odd occasion but he seems to be coping and he’s pretty tough when it comes to that sort of thing.
“He carries an inspirational style about what he does. He’s all action isn’t he? He actually wanted to bowl from the Nursery End, he’s not a big lover of the Pavilion End because it drags him too close to the stump.
“We had to persuade him a little bit but once he settled and got moving, we needed a couple of breakthroughs and the bouncer to get rid of the opener was a cracker. You can’t play that.
“I thought that got us moving, that was a really big wicket. It gave us a bit of energy, got the crowd going and that’s what those players do.
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