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.
(AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
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.
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)
Nick
Guest
If Haseeb Hameed was not totally out of form Balance wouldn't have been in the England starting line-up.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Maharaj has look fantastic tonight
BurgyGreen
Guest
SA are a very shaky batting unit in this Test. No Faf and no AB (who probably won't come back) weakens them severely, especially with Amla having been in relatively indifferent form for quite some time. Bavuma and Elgar are dogged players but not world-beaters. Duminy is hopeless, and they still need a regular second opener. Looks like the defection of Rilee Rossouw to county cricket is going to haunt them.
bigbaz
Roar Guru
Warner picked him early, that's why he tried to take him out before he did too much damage.
JimmyB
Guest
I care.?
DavSA
Guest
I am not saying this as a just in case , but this series has a surreal element of nobody caring .. Is it because of so much exposure in England via the Champions trophy , the SA one dayers and T20 , The Woman's world cup .....Which incidentally is attracting more attention than the Test series. I dont know . The SA selectors were comfortable giving FAF off for his childs birth ..and yes it just doesn't seem to carry any element of importance here . Quite strange .
Savage
Roar Rookie
chancho,spot on.his conversion rate is very poor.that's why i rate him below smith and kohli at this time.but it would'nt surprise me if he becomes best test batsmen of this generation at the end of his career.i still believe he is best batsmen in adapting to all type of condition(whether swing,seam and spin).no batsmen looks more in control with bat than root.And now he is captain(with added responsibiltiy),his conversion rate will definitely improve.
Chancho
Roar Rookie
Don't tell anyone, but I actually have quite a bit of time for Root... where he won me over was his response to Cook getting hit in the plums. It's going to be great for test cricket to have Root, Smith and Kholi as combatative captains! Lets just have another look at Cook's moment of glory... https://youtu.be/Tc7ONxFWCm8
Nick Kelland
Roar Guru
Hahaha Chancho I feel your pain. I am the last person to praise the Poms, but Root is a cut above his English compatriots. Averaging 54 in test with 27 50s and 12 100s in 53 matches tells it all really. I also think this he is going to flourish as a skipper, and his stats are only going to improve.
Chancho
Roar Rookie
You say that about Root, but doesn't he have a rubbish conversion rate in getting to 50 then (not) going on to 100? The one stat that does show that when he goes, he goes big: in all of his >100 scores, only 4 are <120... I've just read that comment back... I'm sorry if I sounded so argumentative, it's just I've had a gutfull of the British chest beating of late: Hamilton was hard done by, Cavendish was hard done by, how great are we at tennis, a Brit in yellow at the tour... give me strength!
Nick Kelland
Roar Guru
I agree re:Kyle Abbott - He's an enormous loss, but RSA are very clear on their animosity towards their players chasing money overseas. I don't think Rabada is letting it go to his head. He seems quite settled and above that all. Let's hope (for SA's sake) that that's the case. He has an enormous future ahead of him across all three formats.
DavSA
Guest
Not just Dale Steyn , but Kyle Abbott who was a terrific stand in for Steyn. . I have said it before but I am concerned at all the celebrity attention Rabada is getting here in SA . I am simply wondering if he is still as focused on his cricket as he should be.