Proteas make light work of England in first test

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After getting off to an incredible start this summer, England’s test cricket team was full of confidence heading into their first match of the series against South Africa this month.

Taking place at Lord’s – otherwise known as the ‘home of cricket’ – the Brendon McCullum coached-side expressed their intention to continue their aggressive brand of play that they had shown in their four wins over New Zealand and India in June and July. Those who bet on sports agreed with the sentiment that England were going to continue their rich vein of form, as the home side entered the series as the prohibitive favourites.

It didn’t go as planned for the recently appointed captain Ben Stokes and his men, as they were battered by a clinical Proteas outfit by an innings and 12 runs. After winning the toss and electing to bowl, South Africa clearly felt confident that their powerful pace attack could put their opponents under plenty of pressure early on. The Proteas would have been particularly buoyed by the inclusion of world-ranked fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, who was declared fit to play.

There had been doubts in the lead-up to the first test whether or not he would suit up after a niggling ankle injury continued to hamper him. It was the right decision to name him however, as he and the remainder of the pace attack ripped through England’s batting line up in the first innings to bowl them out for a measly total of 165 runs.

It was a combined effort from the South African bowlers, with Anrich Nortje securing the most wickets with three – while Rabada, Keshav Maharaj and Marco Jansen all took two apiece. With their tails up after their innings in the field, South Africa capitalised on their strong start to gain the ascendency even further with the bat.