Ken Borland

South Africa frittered away a commanding position with the bat as they closed the second day of the first Test against England at Lord’s on Thursday on 289 for seven, a lead of 124.

While that is a very handy lead, the Proteas will have to bat last and their advantage should have been so much more as they reached tea on 158 for two, replying to England’s small first innings of 165.

Kagiso Rabada wrapped up the England innings, after they began the day on 116 for six, finishing with five for 52 in 19 overs, getting his name on the Lord’s honours board and just reward for his masterful bowling.

Dean Elgar and Sarel Erwee set forth on the South African reply an hour before lunch, initially just trying to survive the first 12 overs of swing bowling from James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

They blossomed after lunch, taking their first-wicket partnership to an excellent 85. England were fortunate to break the stand when Elgar (47) was unable to knock the ball away from his stumps when it rebounded off his back arm, via thigh-pad. Anderson was the lucky bowler, but Elgar had earlier survived a couple of unplayable deliveries from the veteran seamer.

Keegan Petersen (24) helped Erwee add another 53 for the second wicket, and the left-handed opener ploughed on in impressive, tenacious fashion.

South Africa were just seven runs behind with eight wickets in hand at the tea break, and with Erwee well-set and Aiden Markram looking dangerous, they would have fancied being far ahead at stumps.

But Markram did not add to his tea-time score of 16, edging his first ball after the break, via a poor stroke, to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes off Jack Leach.

With the left-arm spinner controlling matters at one end, captain Ben Stokes then produced one of his trademark momentum-changing spells. In a five-over burst in which he gave his absolute everything, England’s lion-hearted Golden Arm bounced out Erwee for a fighting 73 that had put the Proteas in a strong position.

Stokes then cleverly switched to a fuller length and a scrambled seam to jag the ball back into Rassie van der Dussen and trap him lbw for 19.

Kyle Verreynne did not look comfortable and was caught behind off Stuart Broad for 11, leaving South Africa on 210 for six, a collapse of four for 50.

But Marco Jansen (41*) showed both astute defence and the ability to hit the ball a long way, as he and Keshav Maharaj added a much-needed 72 for the seventh wicket. Maharaj scored a pugnacious 41 off 49 balls before Stokes (12-3-53-3) had him caught on the hook.

Their crucial runs in the last half-hour showed that South Africa’s batting line-up can indeed go deep.

Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje were the star performers as South Africa blew away England’s top-order and reduced them to 116/6 when rain arrived and washed out the rest of the first day of the first Test at Lord’s on Wednesday.

Rabada set the tone for a brilliant bowling performance by the Proteas after captain Dean Elgar had won the toss and elected to bowl first, removing both openers, Alex Lees (5) and Zak Crawley (9), before Anrich Nortje ripped through the middle-order with the big scalps of Jonny Bairstow, comprehensively bowled for a duck, and Ben Stokes caught in the slips for 20 with the last delivery before lunch.

Only six overs were possible after the break before the weather intervened.

Nortje finished the day with an explosive 3/43 in nine overs, while Rabada was classy in taking 2/36 in 12.

Rabada said the Proteas pacemen had exploited what was in the pitch and stuck to good plans.

“There was a bit in the pitch and we were able to get rewards for putting the ball in the right areas. Test cricket is about doing something over and over, but you do have slightly different plans for the various batsmen.

“These days you have analysts and lots of data, so you sometimes change your strategy just a little. But generally I just try and keep it simple.

“We have got pace, bounce, swing and guys who can bowl quick bumpers, so our pace attack has all the ingredients to be formidable,” Rabada said.

Even a bowler as intimidating as Rabada was made to look like a friendly uncle though by the sheer ferocity of Nortje. Having been out of Test cricket for more than a year, the 28-year-old certainly showed what the Proteas have been missing as he came roaring in, regularly hitting 150km/h.

The in-form Bairstow was castled middle-stump, while Stokes, who was looking ominous, was undone by late movement at high pace.

“It was going to take something special to get an in-form batsman like Jonny out and that was really quick from Anrich,” Rabada said. “He’s very passionate, hence the celebration, and rightfully so because it was a very good ball.”

Left-armer Marco Jansen chipped in with the key wicket of Joe Root, trapped lbw for eight by a booming inswinger. He had reason to feel peeved because reviews showed the ball was just clipping the outside of leg-stump, which was not enough for his referral to be upheld.

Ollie Pope was the one English batsman to prosper, fighting hard for his 61 not out, which came briskly, off 87 balls. Busy and compact, he had struck four fours in a fine display of positive batting.

It’s been an amazing couple of weeks for women’s rugby in this country. After their breakthrough victory on away soil over Japan on July 30, the news that FNB will be the new major sponsors of the Springbok women’s team was confirmed on Wednesday, and on Saturday the doughty national team will take on Spain at Ellis Park in the curtain-raiser to the massive Rugby Championship Test against the All Blacks.

Delighted SA Rugby president Mark Alexander said finding a principal partner for the national women’s team had not been an easy task, but having chased after several potential sponsors, they then went back to an Old Faithful in FNB, and they have committed themselves to sharing the federation’s passion for the development of the women’s game.

It is the same company who, after Springbok rugby had arguably reached its nadir in 2017, signed a three-year deal, which was extended for five more in 2020, when other sponsors were jumping ship. The bank is undoubtedly now reaping the benefits with South African rugby on an absolute high.

“We have presented so many proposals to so many companies to sponsor our women’s team,” Alexander said at the announcement at Melrose Arch on Wednesday.

“But like they did when they came in after the 2016 season when all our other sponsors were leaving us, FNB have answered the call. A lot is being said about supporting women’s sport, but very few corporates actually do.

“This is an exciting start for the women’s game. You can see the quality of their play and I must commend Lynne Cantwell [High-Performance Manager for Women’s Rugby] for getting the right pillars in place.

“We want people to see our Springbok Women in action, to put them in the lights. Society needs to change its mindsets and the time has come for corporates to put their money where their mouths are,” Alexander said.

South Africa’s 20-10 win over Japan was a top-class effort, with Cantwell, a former Ireland captain, describing it on Wednesday as “a huge stake in the ground, a well-constructed win that was not by luck”.

Springbok captain Nolusindiso Booi was thrilled by all the good news surrounding her team and said Saturday’s Test against Spain at Ellis Park was a chance for them to perform in front of their heroes in the men’s side.

“We’re very excited to play before our heroes and display our rugby, and also to make the fans proud,” Booi said. “We’ve seen a lot of improvement, things are changing in women’s rugby.

“We’re on the up and now we need to go and compete with bigger teams as our goal is to make the top-five and ensure every girl playing rugby is aiming to play for the Springboks,” Booi said.

Quinton de Kock was ready to blow England away with a gale-force batting display when rain forced the abandonment of the third and decisive ODI at Headingley on Sunday, leaving the Proteas to share the series 1-1.

De Kock had produced an innings of enormous quality in reaching 92 not out off just 76 balls to steer South Africa to 159 for two in 27.4 overs when a second rain interruption proved terminal for a match that was intriguingly poised.

After a scratchy start, De Kock played some top-class strokes as he raced to a 39-ball half-century, showing a fine degree of judgement when he was not at his most fluent. Ever a threat through the off-side, the left-hander played a couple of sumptuous cover-drives, but also showed a superb touch behind the wicket, highlighted by a phenomenal boundary off Sam Curran, lifting a bouncer over the wicketkeeper.

The Proteas had surprisingly, given the weather forecast, elected to bat first and England’s opening bowlers, the new-ball pair of left-armers David Willey and Reece Topley, blunted South Africa’s desire for an aggressive start with some quality bowling.

Janneman Malan (11) fell in the sixth over, trying to drive Willey on the up but skewing a catch to backward point.

Rassie van der Dussen then came in and 75 was added for the second wicket as De Kock got into his stride. Van der Dussen had made 26 off 38 balls when he slog-swept leg-spinner Adil Rashid into the hands of deep square-leg, leaving the Proteas on 99 for two in the 17^th over.

Aiden Markram was getting himself in when the first rain interruption came with South Africa on 119 for two in the 21^st over.

The teams were stuck in the changerooms for 110 minutes and De Kock and Markram (24* off 34*) then added 40 more runs in the 41 balls they faced before the rain returned and washed out the match.

The three-match T20 series starts on Wednesday in Bristol.