Ken Borland

Kagiso Rabada, the top-scorer in a miserable Proteas total of 151, backed both the decision to bat first and the rest of the South African batting line-up to come good despite seven of them shuffling back down the aisle to the changeroom with just 92 runs on the board before he had to come to the crease on the first day of the second Test against England at Old Trafford.

Rabada scored a determined 36 to ensure the Proteas did not make some dreaded history on Thursday for beating their lowest ever completed innings in Manchester: the 130 they made back in 1929 when England beat them by an innings thanks to leg-spinner Tich Freeman’s career-best 12 wickets and centuries by Bob Wyatt and Frank Woolley.

Rabada then produced a top-class delivery, a back-of-a-length ball zipping and bouncing at the key England batsman, Joe Root, to find the edge of the bat and Sarel Erwee completing a juggling catch at first slip.

“We played two spinners for a reason and generally if you’re playing two spinners then you need to bat first. The pitch is getting drier and it’s quite slow.

“Simon Harmer is already in the game with his second ball ragging quite a bit. So I’ll say it is the right decision to bat first. We know the batting unit have quality but it is a young one as well.

“So it’s about gaining experience, but our batsmen know what they have to do, they don’t get out on purpose. They know what went wrong and as a team we back each and every player.

“Individuals take responsibility and I know they are all trying their utmost best. I’ll not be pointing fingers because that is just energy-sapping,” Rabada said.

Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad shared six wickets as they bowled with wonderful skill and nous to exploit the overcast conditions and a pitch that provided plenty of seam movement.

Rabada was asked about Anderson in the press conference at the end of the day’s play and he praised the paceman who is 40 years old and playing in his 174^th Test.

“Jimmy has had a remarkable career, particularly in Test cricket. He is still getting wickets and he is a legend of the game. He’s a phenomenal bowler, he showed that again today,” Rabada said.

“Only playing Tests has helped his longevity, but England play quite a few Tests every year. I guess I will need to have a beer with him at the end of the tour and ask him how he does it.”

Anderson has 661 wickets now halfway through his 174^th Test, a rate of 3.80 wickets per match. Rabada has 251 wickets in his 54^th Test, striking at 4.71 dismissals per game.

South Africa’s spearhead will need 140 Tests at this rate to post the same figures as Anderson, so 86 more. But given that the Proteas play so few Tests in comparison to England and are slated to play even less over the next few years, Rabada will need to keep playing until he is about 42 and show the same sort of longevity to overtake the numbers England’s leading wicket-taker is churning out.

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.

Like an older brother showing his younger siblings the ropes, Proteas captain Dean Elgar says he knows what it feels like to be the No.1 Test side in the world and he wants the rest of his team to experience the same joy.

South Africa are currently leading the ICC World Test Championship with five wins from seven matches, but in terms of the Test rankings they are third behind Australia and India. England are 10 points behind them in fourth and are languishing in seventh in the Championship, out of the running for the final.

But regardless of that, beating England in a Test series in England is one of the toughest things to do and Elgar, a veteran of 76 Tests,  knows if they are to be acknowledged as the best side in the longest format then they need to stand up and be counted when the first Test starts at Lord’s on Wednesday.

“I didn’t take the job as captain thinking about just being a mid-table team,” Elgar said on Tuesday. “It was always my goal for us to play our best cricket.

“I’ve been part of a No.1-ranked side twice and I know how great a feeling it is and how much work it takes and what a journey it is.

“I want the younger guys to experience that and I want to experience it again as well before my next chapter. It’s a massive goal of mine, the biggest, and I wouldn’t be doing this job if I didn’t think we were capable of being number one.

“I think we’ve created a lot more confidence over the last 15 months and it has rubbed off on my own game as well. I’m not dissing the opposition, but purely from the South African point of view, we tick all the boxes,” Elgar said.

While rain meant Kagiso Rabada would have to bowl in the indoor nets at Lord’s if he needed to top-up after his ankle injury, there will be at least four changes in the starting XI compared to the team that thrashed Bangladesh in Gqeberha in South Africa’s previous Test, in April.

The injured duo of Temba Bavuma and Duanne Olivier are both back in South Africa, while Wiaan Mulder and Lizaad Williams are not in the touring squad.

Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and Marco Jansen are all back in the squad, but whether there is enough in the conditions to warrant playing Simon Harmer as a second spinner will determine whether the pace quartet return like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Who comes in for Bavuma is the big question.

“We’ve lost Temba’s experience factor in the middle-order and I would be more inclined to go for experience,” Elgar said, suggesting Rassie van der Dussen or Aiden Markram are the frontrunners to bat No.4.

Play starts at 12pm SA time.

Virat Kohli was able to consolidate and defy for more than four-and-a-half hours, but the rest of the Indian batting line-up was broken down by an excellent Proteas attack led by an inspired Kagiso Rabada on the first day of the decisive third Test at Newlands on Tuesday.

India had won the toss and elected to bat first, under gloomy skies with the floodlights on, and they were bowled out for just 223 despite Kohli’s determined innings of 79 in 273 minutes off 201 balls.

Rabada, playing his 50^th Test, was superb and his final figures of 4/73 in 22 overs would have been even better with a bit more luck. The talismanic fast bowler was constantly probing the outside edge from a perfect length and used the short ball to good effect as well. His tussle with Kohli was especially gripping, and Rabada eventually dismissed him to claim the penultimate wicket, having the Indian captain caught behind by Kyle Verreynne, who took five catches on Tuesday.

Left-arm paceman Marco Jansen continued to cement his place in  the Proteas team as he took 3/55 in 18 overs and Duanne Olivier also bowled better than his final figures of 1/42 in 18 overs.

Rabada and Olivier were excellent with the new ball and removed openers Lokesh Rahul (12) and Mayank Agarwal (15) in successive overs.

Cheteshwar Pujara (43) and Kohli then consolidated with a third-wicket stand of 62 before Jansen had Pujara caught behind with a fine delivery that held its line from around the wicket.

Rishabh Pant (27) tried to temper his aggression with the bat, but eventually cut Jansen, getting extra bounce, straight to gully.

When the wind switched to south-easterly, the weather began to clear, but left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, bowling into the breeze, deceived Shardul Thakur in the flight and had him caught low down at short extra cover by Keegan Petersen for 12, leaving India on 205/7.

South Africa then successfully prevented Kohli, who was batting with the skill of yore, from making hay with the fast bowlers as Rabada and Lungi Ngidi (14.3-7-33-1) wrapped up the innings at 5.16pm.

Proteas captain Dean Elgar, prodding towards mid-on as Jasprit Bumrah angled the ball across the left-hander, was caught in the slips for just three, but Aiden Markram (8*) and Keshav Maharaj (6*) made it through to stumps on 17/1.

The ball is now very much in your court, South African batting line-up.