Ken Borland

Sarel Erwee does not get too fazed by much – not dropping a simple catch in the first over of the day, not the unique conditions at Lord’s nor the tricky pitch he had to bat on on the second day of the first Test against England on Thursday.

Erwee handled all of that and the England attack with a well-controlled, highly-composed innings of 73 that laid the foundation for South Africa’s first innings total of 289/7 at stumps and a lead of 124.

Erwee was at first slip when he juggled and dropped a catch given by England’s top-scorer Ollie Pope off Kagiso Rabada. The spearhead of the attack also bounced back from that disappointment, removing Pope for 73 five overs later.

The left-handed opener, playing just his fifth Test, then had to come in and handle the famous slope at Lord’s, as well as a capacity crowd and the famous pair of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad on a pitch that was giving the new ball plenty of assistance.

“The spilt catch certainly wasn’t planned, but that’s cricket. It can happen, especially in the UK where the ball wobbles a bit,” Erwee said phlegmatically at the end of the second day.

“My primary job is as a batsman and trying to get my team off to a decent start with the skipper.” [He succeeded with an excellent opening stand of 85 with Dean Elgar].

“Visualisation is quite important for me to get used to the environment, especially at a place like Lord’s which can be quite overwhelming. I try and gather what type of energies the crowd will give off and the bowlers I’m going to face.

“So I watch a lot of videos, quiet my mind and take it all in. It’s working nicely but I mustn’t get ahead of myself. The most important thing is to just watch each ball at a time. You can get caught up, but if you stay in the moment then things generally go well,” Erwee said.

The 32-year-old also used his mental strength to handle the bowler-friendly pitch and the notorious Lord’s slope, which sees the gradient drop 2.5 metres from the north end of the ground to the south .

“Conditions got trickier and the pitch became a bit two-paced, plus the scoring was quite slow after the rain on the first day, there was a heavy outfield.

“But I had to take all of that out of my mind and just watch the ball and play as intensely as possible. The slope does play a role at times too, but we were very fortunate to play our warm-up game in Canterbury, where there is a slope as well.

“That worked in our favour and we were able to figure out what would work at Lord’s, where the slope is even more hectic, and what to line up differently,” Erwee said.

Young Marco Jansen (41*) and the more experienced Keshav Maharaj (41) then added a rollicking 72 for the seventh wicket in 12-and-a-half overs, giving the Proteas renewed energy.

“Watching Kesh and Marco bat gave a bit more energy, the changeroom was buzzing even more,” Erwee said. “We’re in a good position and we’re full of confidence.

“We have prepped well and we take a bit of momentum into the third day with that partnership at the back end of the day.

“If we can bring the same energy tomorrow [Friday], then we’ll stay ahead of the game, I’m sure,” Erwee said.

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.

Sarel Erwee and Dean Elgar gave South Africa a solid start to their first innings as the Proteas reached 158 for two at tea on the second day of the first Test against England at Lord’s on Thursday.

Having bowled England out for just 165 in the first hour of the second day, Erwee and Elgar survived a testing 12 overs before lunch and then compiled an excellent opening stand of 85.

England, who huffed and puffed for a breakthrough, only broke the defiant partnership between the two left-handers when Elgar fell to a freakish dismissal. A leg-side delivery from Jimmy Anderson struck him on the thigh-pad and then bounced up to hit the back of his arm, sending it back on to Elgar’s stumps. Ironically, he had survived a couple of unplayable deliveries from Anderson earlier in his innings.

The South African captain was out for 47, a typically pugnacious innings, blunting the bowling and leading from the front.

Keegan Petersen then contributed 24 in a second-wicket stand of 53 with Erwee, before being caught in the slips off Matthew Potts. The most inexperienced of England’s pacemen was wayward against the two left-handers but was more settled against the right-handers.

Aiden Markram, back in the Proteas Test family after his successful IPL sojourn, then accompanied Erwee to tea, playing one gorgeous cover-drive for four off Anderson to reach 16 not out.

Erwee had got stuck in to score 60 not out and can be extremely proud of his effort. Gutsy, solid in defence and able to punish the bad ball he looks wonderfully determined not to give anything away.

Earlier, Kagiso Rabada duly completed his five-wicket haul, bowling superbly in the first hour of the morning session to finish with five for 52 in 19 overs.

England had resumed on a struggling 116 for six after the Proteas pacemen had dominated the 32 overs able to be played on the first day before rain washed out play. Ollie Pope was the key man for them on 61 not out, but the determined No.3 was the first batsman to fall on Thursday, in the fifth over of the day.

Rabada kept plugging away with great control and skill just outside the off-stump, and Pope inside-edged a big drive into his stumps to be bowled for 73.

A beautiful slower ball then accounted for Stuart Broad (15) and Rabada wrapped up his 12^th five-wicket haul in his 73^rd Test by trapping Jimmy Anderson lbw for a first-ball duck.

Left-armer Marco Jansen finished with two for 30 in eight overs and Anrich Nortje was also wonderful on the first day, finishing with three for 63 in 13 overs.

Kagiso Rabada would be your first choice of current South African bowlers to get up on the Lord’s honours board and he duly completed his five-wicket haul before the Proteas openers did their job on the second day of the first Test against England on Thursday.

Rabada bowled superbly in the first hour of the morning session, finishing with five for 52 in 19 overs as England were bowled out for just 165.

Captain Dean Elgar (12*) and Sarel Erwee (13*) then took South Africa through to 27 without loss at lunch.

England had resumed on a struggling 116 for six after the Proteas pacemen had dominated the 32 overs able to be played on the first day before rain washed out play. Ollie Pope was the key man for them on 61 not out, but the determined No.3 was the first batsman to fall on Thursday, in the fifth over of the day.

Erwee’s juggling attempt to catch Pope at first slip at the end of the first over of the day, bowled by Rabada, failed, but the batsman only added six more runs. Rabada kept plugging away with great control and skill just outside the off-stump, and Pope then inside-edged a big drive into his stumps to be bowled for 73.

A beautiful slower ball then accounted for Stuart Broad (15) and Rabada wrapped up his 12^th five-wicket haul in his 73^rd Test by trapping Jimmy Anderson lbw for a first-ball duck.

In between the dismissals of Broad and Anderson, Marco Jansen chipped in by bowling Jack Leach for 15.

Left-armer Jansen finished with two for 0 in eight overs and Anrich Nortje was also wonderful on the first day, finishing with three for 63 in 13 overs.

Some exquisite swing bowling by Anderson and Broad then created plenty of nervous moments for South Africa, and Elgar was dropped on seven by Zak Crawley at second slip off Matthew Potts, his angled-bat weakness outside off stump again coming to the fore.

But the opener survived the testing 12 overs before lunch.