The Proteas finished the first session with 77-5 on Day 1 of the second Test against England at Old Trafford.
The conditions – that was the major talking point ahead of the second Test between South Africa and England at Old Trafford. Is the pitch dry? Should we bat first? Should we play two spinners?
The Proteas were met with a conundrum the morning of the match. In a week that was expected to be perfect for Test cricket weather-wise, there were dark clouds looming above Old Trafford.
With England possessing two of the best swing bowlers of all time, the strategy from Elgar would have been to survive the first session, see off the clouds and then pile on the runs as the sun came out and baked the pitch. Ben Stokes, however, said he’s happy to bowl first and we would shortly see why.
For the Proteas to take control of the contest, Erwee and Elgar needed to be their true gritty selves. This was not to be, as Erwee received a perfect delivery from James Anderson, which forced him into an inside nick to the keeper.
Elgar followed his opening partner back to the pavilion shortly after, playing too far in front of him and finding a thick edge to third-slip as a result.
Keegan Petersen looked decent for his 21, but Stuart Broad squared him up and forced him to edge the ball to first-slip.
Elgar’s decision to bat first at this point was looking pretty grim at 41-3 after 14 and a half overs.
Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen, who have been under a lot of criticism recently, started off okay, but both lost their wickets in quick succession. Markram to a miss-timed white-ball-looking pull shot and Rassie van der Dussen lbw to quite a controversial decision.
The Hawkeye replays showed that 0.1% of the ball was in line with the stumps as it struck the front of Rassie’s pad. The Proteas took a total of 77-5 into the break.
The surprising observation from this first session was that the England bowlers got more joy from the movement off the pitch and the seam than from swing in the air, which tells us that the execution was poor from our batters.
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