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Lunch: England lead by 61
56th over: England 212-5 (Stokes 34, Foakes 33) Harmer to Foakes, who is only playing for lunch until a full toss suddenly appears – and pulls it for four. (It’s also a no-ball for height.) And that’s lunch, with England winning the second hour after Nortje dominated the first. Stokes’n’Foakes have added 65 in 20 overs of exciting cricket, with the ball spinning enough to justify Dean Elgar’s decision to play two spinners, even if he was strangely reluctant to use them in combination. When South Africa trotted again, Jack Leach could be center stage. See you in about half an hour. 55th over: England 207-5 (Stokes 34, Fooks 29) Late delivery to Keshav Maharaj, and he almost hits the first ball! He found some textbook turn, hit Fawkes on the back pad and drew the finger of doom from Richard Illingworth, but the English review and HawkEye think he was off the leg. I’m not sure HawkEye got it right. Foakes survives another LBW hit, also very close, and we’re down to the last one before lunch. 54th over: England 204-5 (Stokes 32, Foakes 28) Harmer spits a hard one and beats Stokes. Stokes, suddenly remembering Brendon McCullum’s desire to go even harder, tries to respond with a reverse sweep but only connects with the air. “Another good one from Harmer,” murmurs Sean Pollock. “He put three good ones together.” 53rd over: England 204-5 (Stokes 32, Fawkes 28) A rare bad ball from Rabada and Stokes cuts it for two at cover. Elgar has to attack and defend at the same time, backed into a tight corner by England’s excellent bowling in their top order yesterday. England’s lead is 53. 52nd over: England 200-5 (Stokes 29, Fooks 27) Fooks, opposite Harmer, keeps a couple of good balls out before dabbing a single behind square to bring up 200. Rich when your opponents only managed 150. 51st over: England 199-5 (Stokes 29, Foakes 26) Another solid over from Rabada, another single to each batter. England did well this morning to find a balance – hit the bad ball and some good ones, but let the bowlers have plenty of dots too. 50th over: England 197-5 (Stokes 28, Foakes 25) A good over from Harmer, testing Foakes by landing the ball on a length just outside off, but the only edge is inside, on the thigh pad. 49th over: England 197-5 (Stokes 28, Foakes 25) Dean Elgar is anxious enough to return to Kagiso Rabada, ahead of schedule. It’s very straight, giving each batter a simple nudge down the leg side for a single. The second, by Foakes, brings up the partnership of 50 in 13.1 overs – just what England needed. The crowd and players in the balcony respond with warm applause. 48th over: England 195-5 (Stokes 27, Fooks 24) Harmer to Fooks. The commentators simply describe it as a good fight when Foakes threads an on-drive for four, only to add it to a nurdle for two. He was admirably busy, making 24 off just 33 balls. “Ken Andrew, from Duck, North Carolina, inspired me to do some research on a well-known online mapping service,” says Michael Duggan. “Apparently there is a Cow Corner near Lulworth in Dorset and a Deep Point in Maryland. There are a few places that have Deep Gully, but not many for other positions, and searching for Long Leg just leads to “adult entertainment club”. 47th over: England 189-5 (Stokes 27, Foakes 18) Stokes repeats his trick against Ngidi, using his legs to drive straight for four. Before that, he was careful for a few balls. “Just the feeling,” Ian Ward told Sky, “that the two sides are looking at each other.” I’m not sure it came out quite the way he intended. Updated at 12.33 BST 46th over: England 184-5 (Stokes 23, Foakes 17) Again, a single to each batter from Harmer. Their partnership is already 37, just what England needed after Nortje’s double strike. 45th over: England 182-5 (Stokes 22, Fawkes 16) Stokes is the England captain, the last top batsman left, one down in the order and a sore knee. So what will he do? Charge the track to a fast bowler, of course. He does it well, turning a length ball from Ngidi into a half-volley and playing a measured push for four. Foakes adds two with a thick edge, around the ground. Some people have asked for the TMS connection. Dean Kinsella was one of them, but then he found it and is now sharing it generously. 44th over: England 175-5 (Stokes 17, Foakes 14) Harmer continues and this time there are no fireworks, just a single to each batter. England lead by 24. “The problem with the 1958-59 edition of the OBO,” says Richard O’Hagan, “was that England were playing Australia, so everything happened in the middle of the night and even when the OBO telegram arrived it was usually too dark to I read it.” 43rd over: England 173-5 (Stokes 16, Foakes 13) Another maiden from Ngidi as Stokes runs out to keep the reversing Yorkies out. The break came at the right time for Stokes, who is good to bat if not to go. He took off his pad, did some manipulation and put his pad back on. Will he squeeze his style? I wouldn’t bet on it. This is Jeremy Boyce. “I think a lot of the OBO work in the north and midlands was done by racing/messenger pigeons, occasional whippets. Whereas in the south they were really paper boys or lab rats.’ Ugh. “Anyway, I see BazBall entering new territory, an early innings lead. Scary. I bet Jimmy to make a maiden Test 50 and we win by an innings. Or maybe not.” Jimmy will be a bit offended by this – he was 81 once. England’s Ben Stokes is receiving treatment for a knee injury. Photo: Nick Potts/PA Updated at 12.19 BST 42nd over: England 173-5 (Stokes 16, Foakes 13) Harmer believes he has Stokes with a classic off-break that steps, straightens and hits the pad. Dean Elgar opts to review but it’s not a wise move – the ball wasn’t quite enough so South Africa lose one of their reviews. Stokes reverse-sweeps, gains the top, but picks up two as the ball goes down the ground for nobody. And then Stokes hurts himself running, tightening his left knee, which often gives him trouble when bowling. I hope he is fine. England’s Ben Stokes signals for treatment as he holds his left knee. Photo: Nick Potts/PA And that’s the drinks, with the game nicely laid out. England are 22 ahead but the first hour belongs to the demon Nortje, who bowled with both fire and guile and removed Bairstow and Crawley. Updated at 12.19 BST 41st over: England 170-5 (Stokes 13, Foakes 13) Double change as Rabada makes way for Lungi Ngidi. He also reverses it, keeping Fouakes honest and picking up a girl. Although Ngidi is consistent, I suspect England would prefer to face him rather than Marco Jansen. “Good morning,” says Ken Andrew, “from Duck, North Carolina. Surely there can’t be anyone watching your updates today from anywhere with a vague name of cricket.” 40th over: England 170-5 (Stokes 13, Foakes 13) Yes, Nortje gets a breather after a barnstorming spell, and here’s Simon Harmer for some off-spin, possibly aimed at Stokes. Starts with a full toss to Foakes, who says thank you very much and covers-drives for four. The moment Stokes strikes, he sweeps for a six! It’s the first six of the match and possibly the end of Stokes’ absence for the day. 39th over: England 159-5 (Stokes 7, Foakes 8) Foakes, looking to put England ahead in style, hits a four off Rabada – off the bottom edge, past the keeper, as he cuts into one that keeps a little low. That’s very much in the spirit of this test so far. Stokes plays a much better shot, a cover drive for four. Time for a bowling change or two, for sure. Updated at 11.51 BST 38th over: England 150-5 (Stokes 3, Foakes 3) Foakes is equal to the task, waiting for the toe ball and flicking it away for a sure three. England trail by one. “Kim Thonger asked about past OBOers, about 1958-1959,” says Martin Fairbrother. “I was wondering how OBO worked back then. Did a paper boy come every 5 minutes with a printout to size and check if you had a letter for the presenter?’ No doubt. 37th over: England 147-5 (Stokes 3, Fooks 0) Stokes, seeing the gravity of the situation, plays a maiden from Rabada. The only problem is that this leaves Foakes to face a full over from Nortje. 36th over: England 147-5 (Stokes 3, Foakes 0) Stokes had just got off the mark with a massive drive for three when the wicket fell. He is joined by Ben Foakes, who (as Mike Atherton points out) could not cope with Nortje at Lord’s, falling to him twice for 6 and 0. They return to Old Trafford in England with four and need a lot of collaboration from these two. Updated at 11.47 BST
mailbox!! Crawley c Verreynne b Nortje 38 (England 147-5)
One brings two! And it’s Norge again, finding a magic ball that Crowley does well to defeat. This is the end of the most admirable 38 you have ever seen. England’s Zach Crowley edges the ball to lose his wicket. Photo: Matt West/Shutterstock Updated at 12.23 BST 35th over: England 144-4 (Crawley 38, Stokes 0) Crawley, now the senior partner in a sense, drives Rabada for two, then catches him, not once but twice, holding on both times. The second one goes through the rope and goes for four. Crawley adds a classy clip to deep square, which was warmly applauded by the crowd, and he already has 21 off 22 balls this morning, to go with 17 off 77 yesterday. Trevor Bailey’s records are probably safe. “Geoff Saunders’ point about playing straight is a good one,” says Steve Hudson, “but a backlift at third slip like Crawley’s doesn’t necessarily stop you from bringing the bat down straight and can make side shots much more easy. Bradman, famously,…
