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England vs South Africa: First Test, Day 1 - Four things we learnt

Joe Root led England to victory over South Africa. (AFP PHOTO / CARL COURT)
Roar Guru
6th July, 2017
12

1. Joe Root is a world beater
It’s not as though the cricketing world wasn’t already acutely aware of the new Test captain’s class with the bat. However, if there were any doubts, Root put those to bed with a dogged and classy Day 1 display.

Coming to the crease with England wobbling at 2/10, he saw off the new ball, built partnerships with Gary Ballance and Ben Stokes, and, in the last session of the day, accelerated his scoring rate to finish the day unbeaten on 184 from 227 balls.

His highest Test score of 254 came against Pakistan in 2015, and you’d be a brave punter to suggest he’s not going to pass that tomorrow morning.

2. South Africa are their own worst enemies
After being asked to bowl by England, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada were outstanding in the first ten overs. Philander, in particular, bowled with immense control and took the two crucial early wickets of Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings.

When Ballance departed LBW to Morne Morkel half an hour later, England were in real trouble at 3/50 and South Africa could smell blood.

That’s when the mistakes began. Joe Root was dropped on the fine leg boundary on four and then put down in the gully off the bowling of a fired up Rabada when his score sat on 28. Ben Stokes was bowled off a Morne Morkel no-ball on 35 and the final act in the South African black book of Day 1 was Joe Root being stumped off a Keshav Maharaj no ball on 149.

If South Africa had taken their chances and kept their front feet behind the line, the day could’ve gone very, very differently.

South Africa’s bowler Kagiso Rabada

(AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

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3. Gary Ballance fails again
Much has been made of Gary Ballance’s short Test career. First dropped in 2015, he has been in and out of the England Test side ever since. Outstanding county form at the start of this English season demanded a recall, however, his technical deficiencies of old were brutally laid bare in a probing spell from Morne Morkel.

Michael Vaughan at one point said it looked like Ballance was “playing French cricket” during his innings, and, almost as though it was scripted, Morkel pinned him deep in his crease with three bouncers before trapping him LBW with a full ball that Ballance played all around – dismissed for 20.

The Zimbabwean-born left-hander now averages only 38 in Test match cricket and has registered only two scores over fifty since the start of 2015. In a career-defining series, this wasn’t the start he’d have been looking for.

4. Dale Steyn is sorely missed
South Africa are one of the best new ball attacks in the world. When their battery of quicks is fully fit, they are an extremely tough outfit to negotiate. However, remove one piece of their fast bowling jigsaw puzzle and weaknesses start to appear.

When the piece you remove is arguably the best fast bowler in the history of the game in Dale Steyn, those weaknesses are even more glaring.

Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada were admirable with the new ball. However, in the middle overs of the day when England started to gain some ascendancy and the South African mistakes set in, the Proteas seemed a bowler short.

Philander is a potent threat in the early overs, but, as Stokes proved, his powers don’t carry across to the middle sessions when the ball is old and not moving. Stokes batted nearly a metre out of his crease and often walked at Philander during an ineffective five-over spell in the middle of the day.

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Rabada and Morkel tried hard but were ultimately undone by a tactful Joe Root, who was ably supported by Moeen Ali late in the day. Spinner Keshan Maharaj struggled to extract any notable turn or bounce, and while economical, didn’t really look like a wicket-taking threat.

Without Steyn to worry about, England have set the template for success against a fearsome Proteas line-up. Beat the new ball, and capitalise on their mistakes.

England have the ascendancy in this match, and a strong Day 1 showing will please the England camp. There are still real question marks existing over the make-up of their best XI. However, if Root continues to score runs for fun and Dean Elgar’s men keep making mistakes, it could be a very long series for the Proteas.

End of Day 1

England
5/375 (87.0 overs)
Root, J – 184*
Ali, M – 61*
Stokes, B – 56

South Africa
Philander, V – 3/46 (16)
Morkel, M – 1/64 (16)
Rabada, K – 1/94 (23)

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