Dean Elgar had dared England to try their brand of gung-ho cricket against his South African seam attack in the build-up to this series, and his bowlers backed up their captain’s provocations with a ruthless assault of pace and swing on the first day at Lord’s.
Kagiso Rabada made the initial incisions into England’s batting line-up before Anrich Nortje tore through the middle order with raw pace, splaying the stumps to remove the star of England’s cricketing summer, Jonny Bairstow, for a duck, and coaxing a thick edge from Ben Stokes’s bat with the last ball before lunch. The South Africans fiercely celebrated the England captain’s wicket, and there was just time for Nortje to take out Ben Foakes before heavy afternoon rain ended play with England on 116-6.
