Ken Borland

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 30 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.

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.

Kagiso Rabada is the one bowler you would expect to lead the South African attack in the series against England and he duly put himself in the forefront of a wonderful first session for the Proteas as they reduced the hosts to 100/5 at lunch on the first day of the first Test at Lord’s.

After Dean Elgar had won the toss and elected to bowl first in partly-cloudy, humid conditions in London, Rabada removed both openers as he and Lungi Ngidi (5-1-12-0) began brilliantly with the new ball.

Rabada was on the money from the outset and struck in his second over as Alex Lees (5) wafted loosely outside off-stump, trying to drive a delivery that was far too short, a ball with zip and bounce drawing the edge to wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne.

The other opening batsman, Zak Crawley, lasted twice as long but received a thorough working over, and eventually fell for just 9 as he was well-taken at second slip by Aiden Markram off Rabada (9-1-26-2).

England were 25/2 inside the first nine overs, and their situation became deeply troubling when their batting talisman, Joe Root (8), was trapped lbw by a big inswinger from left-arm quick Marco Jansen, on the stroke of the opening hour.

Anrich Nortje initially battled to find his radar, but in his third over he produced a thunderbolt that would have sent resounding tremors through the England camp, bowling the in-form Jonny Bairstow for a duck. Delivered at almost 150kp/h, it was full and angled in, and one of England’s key batsmen was comprehensively castled as the home team sank to 55/4.

Ollie Pope, having come in after the fall of the first wicket, resisted stoutly as he reached a determined 51 not out off 70 balls by lunch. Busy and compact, he had struck four fours in a fine display of positive batting.

He and captain Ben Stokes had fought back with a fifth-wicket stand of 45, but England were cut deeply by the loss of Stokes to the final ball of the session. Nortje struck the massive blow, moving the ball away late from the left-hander and finding a leading edge that went to fourth slip. Stokes had played some thumping drives straight down the ground and was looking ominous.

England have already named their starting XI for the first Test against South Africa at Lord’s on Wednesday, with Ben Foakes taking the wicketkeeper’s gloves from Sam Billings in the only change to the team that beat India last month.

Here are four potential key areas of weakness that the Proteas will be looking to exploit.

Making early inroads

South Africa will want their fearsome pace attack to make early inroads and therefore expose England’s powerful middle-order of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes when the ball is still new.

Opener Zak Crawley is famous for the 267 he scored against Pakistan in Southampton two years ago, but in his other 45 Test innings he has made only 962 runs at an average of just 21.37. This year he has made just 142 runs in eight innings and, although he is a dashing strokeplayer, his place in the team is precarious. For all his considerable talent, he has a first-class average of just 29.62.

Shopping for top-order stability

England have been shopping for a settled opening combination and even a consistent No.3 for the last decade. Alex Lees is currently Crawley’s partner but he averages just 25.50 in his seven Tests, while Ollie Pope also averages less than 30 in Test cricket, although he has played a couple of brilliant innings this summer.

But England’s batting is on shaky foundations and the Proteas will want to get stuck in with the new ball.

Soft centre?

Apart from the problems at the top of the order, there are question marks lower down too. Wicketkeeper/batsman Ben Foakes is in the centre of the discussion because he comes in at No.7, with a longish tail after him. Foakes has scored just one century and two fifties in his 27 Test innings, averaging 29.19. His ability to marshall Broad, Leach, Potts and Anderson could be central to England’s hopes if things go awry with the batting up top.

An innocuous spinner

There’s no doubt left-arm spinner Jack Leach has tremendous character and he offers great control to the attack, as well as bounce being his greatest weapon due to his six-foot frame. But he is not a big turner of the ball and there is not much mystery to what he does. In comparison to Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer, the Proteas would seem to have a clear edge in the spin-bowling department.