Root's brilliant start, dispirited South Africa

Dismal batting display by South Africa

In the end, the much-anticipated Test match between England and South Africa ended in a dull fashion. It was a one-sided contest where England thrashed the visitors in a shambolic manner to take a lead in the four-match Basil D’Oliveira series. The South Africans were without AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, but I did not expect them to surrender in such way. They were bundled out for just 119 runs and lost the Test by 202 runs – a story which was quite unbelievable for me and when there was whole day still available, definitely one would expect a gripping contest.

The track at Lord’s started to turn from the second day with the odd ones keeping low. It was evident, the track would deteriorate with the progression of the day and spin, being one South Africa’s nemesis since they returned to the international circuit in 1991, it was thought, they would struggle to cope, but somehow, none did think, they would succumb in the final session o fourth day.

They were in big trouble at Wellington and Hamilton this year but decided not to give up and hung on to a draw though, at Hamilton, rain saved the day for them.

They can fight, but at Lord’s on the fourth day, they were like a bunch of school kids.

Hashim Amla is horrifyingly out of form while JP Duminy remained as one of the most talented folks who never utilised his talent appropriately. Amla has serious problems while playing the ball pitching in and around middle and leg. Last year, Azhar Ali was found wanting while playing that middle-and-leg line, but he recovered from that by adopting a two-eyed open stance. Amla adopted such in the second innings, but still failed to occupy the crease. England read that weakness of Amla and utilised it fully to dismiss him cheaply.

Quinton de Kock exhibited intent and I felt, he should have opened instead of Heino Kuhn, who, in my opinion, looked nervous and less confident to deliver the best on the big stage. They should have opted for Chris Morris at number seven with de Kock as an opener. Morris would have given the Proteas a very good option both as a batsman and bowler.

Theunis de Bruyn and Temba Bavuma looked good and could have been better had they exhibited the knack of occupying the crease more. They would improve as they are still at the earlier stages of their career.  But, at present, the form of Amla and Duminy is a matter of worry for South Africa.

Lack of discipline in South Africa’s bowling and fielding

Morne Morkel is six foot six inches tall and while approaching towards the bowling crease, he should have been careful about his back leg staying behind the line more. He bowled aggressively, but while doing that, he lost the control over his back leg which resulted in no-balls during the crucial juncture of the match.

Morkel produced a stunning delivery to Ben Stokes which disturbed the timber but he over-stepped which saved the day for Stokes and England. Joe Root and Stokes stitched a good partnership and poured water on the good work of Vernon Philander in the first session of day 1. Then there were the dropped catches which added more agonies to South Africa as they lost their grip on the match. Cricinfo’s Firdose Moonda described it, “Dropping Joe Root (twice), taking two wickets off two no-balls, not reviewing a decision against Stuart Broad when England were seven down in the first innings and he was on 4, dropping Jonny Bairstow in the second innings when the lead could have been clipped to under 300 - those are all the basic things South Africa got wrong and it cost them dearly”.

Moeen Ali, the hero at Lord’s

Ten wickets in the Test, a half century and brilliant fielding from one of the most underrated cricketers of modern times, Moeen Ali made the Test match all his own. Most of the times, critics don’t talk about him while expressing their sadness about the lack of quality allrounders at present. There is only one Shakib Al Hasan, but to challenge the might of Shakib in Test cricket, the rest of the teams have not surfaced any top class allrounders yet.

 But silently, Moeen has proved his point time and again, when, he became the second fastest to grab one hundred wickets and two thousand runs in Test cricket, critics started to take a look at the beard master from England. Surely, the time has come to give Moeen the due credit for his all-round abilities and project him as one of the best in the game along with Shakib.

Good start for Root

Good start for Joe Root as the captain of England. It’s too early to judge him as a captain as South Africa never really tested him. But some of his moves in the field deserve praise. Such as, knowing the nature of the wicket, he engaged a short mid-off and short mid on against pace bowlers to pile on the pressure on South African batsmen. He knew the ball would keep low and might not carry to orthodox mid-on or mid-off fielder, so, it would be smart enough to keep the fielders closer.

 Then, he utilised his major resources – James Anderson and Stuart Broad in shorter spells Which never let them get tired and whenever the ball got older, Root did not wait further but threw the ball to Jimmy and Broad to deliver him the crucial breakthrough. And they did. The fall of de Bruyn in the final session of day 2 was the perfect example of how you use your wicket taking bowlers to script breakthroughs. 

South Africa need to stand up

South Africa need to gather the pieces together, gel well and come back strongly in the second Test. Their spirited display is not only needed for boosting their morale, but it is needed for the betterment of Test cricket as well. 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar