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23rd over: South Africa 109-3 (Breetkze 11, Stubbs 7) Brook has an attacking field for Rashind. For both batters there’s a short extra cover as well as a short midwicket. For Breetzke he has a leg slip but for Stubbs there’s an extra man catching on the off side. So thre close fielders. That means there are gaps in the ring and the Saffas pick up for singles across the over.
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22nd over: South Africa 105-3 (Breetzke 9, Stubbs 5) Carse is hammering a shortish length, asking Breetzke to force the issue. He can’t beat point from the first two balls but climbs into the third, swatting it well in front of square for four. That was almost like a double forehand in tennis. He then picks up a single with a dab into the covers, bringing out a knowing applause from the crowd. Stubbs is squared up but gets enough on the edge to collect two behind point. He’ll keep the strike with a bunted single towards mid-off.
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21st over: South Africa 97-3 (Breetzke 4, Stubbs 2) South Africa’s usually fluent batters are consolidating. Not that they can let loose against the miserly Rashid. Two runs off that over. The last five have been worth a mere 14.
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20th over: South Africa 95-3 (Breetzke 3, Stubbs 1) Carse is back and he’s looking handy. One is pushed a little fuller and beats the forward press of Stubbs. The new man could do with a score and he’s underway with a bunt to the right of mid-on. Earlier in the set Breetzke picked up a single of his own. Just two from it. South Afrifa were 73-0 after 13 overs. They’ve added 22 and lose three wickets since.
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WICKET! Markram c&b Rashid 49 (South Africa 93-3)
Another gimme! Markram will be sick with himself. After spanking a four down the ground, and then surviving a stumping chance from a googly, South Africa’s opener has spooned a simple catch back to Rashid. Beaten in the air I think, he wasn’t at the pitch of it and so pulled out of the shot. The ball ballooned off his bat and Aiden has to go one short of his half century. England have done superbly to fight their way back into this.
19th over: South Africa 93-3 (Breetzke 2, Stubbs 0)
Adil Rashid takes a catch off of his own bowling to dismiss Aiden Markram! Photograph: Andy Kearns/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 14.49 BST
18th over: South Africa 87-2 (Markram 44, Breetzke 1) Breetzke is off the mark with a tip and run into the off side off Archer. Markram clips a single of his own down to deep sqaure and swats another finer. Both shots were uppish, but in gaps. Archer is finding lift off the surface, forcing Breetzke to duck under a bouncer to see out the over. The last five overs belong to England as they’ve conceded just 14 runs while picking up two wickets. Plenty of time, though, to rebuild for the Saffas.
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17th over: South Africa 84-2 (Markram 42, Breetzke 0) Tidy again from Rashid. Just a single to Markram off that set. England are definitely finding a bit of control in these middle overs.
A correction from the previous set. Breetzke didn’t scamper a single. He’s yet to get off the mark off seven deliveries.
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16th over: South Africa 83-2 (Markram 41, Breetzke 0) Archer lands a steepling bouncer that rushes Markram who swats it it. The ball catches the edge but there’s enough wood on it to take it past Buttler and behind square for four. Archer lets out a laugh, he knows he had the beating of the batter on that occasion. Markram then shows great control to drive a single to the right of the sweeper on the off side.
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Updated at 14.35 BST
15th over: South Africa 78-2 (Markram 35, Breetzke 0) Rashid’s first over is a successful one. Bavuma scooped his first ball for three down to fine leg before Markram comfortably clipped a single. But Rashid is England’s best ever white ball bowler for a reason and he landed a gem to find Bavuma’s edge. South Africa need to rebuild here. What an opportunity for young Breetzke playing in his fourth ODI.
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WICKET! Bavuma c Buttler b Rashid 4 (South Africa 78-2)
Ripper from Rashid! Success in his first over. That’s a lovely delivery, full with a bit of flight, he brings the South African skipper forward and gets it to turn away, nabbing a thin outside edge on its way through the Buttler. After things threatened to drift away from them England are roaring back.
Adil Rashid ousts South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma! Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 14.31 BST
14th over: South Africa 74-1 (Markram 35, Bavuma 1) Archer snares the first wicket against the run of play. England needed that. Rickelton was looking set. The new man Bavuma is watchful before steering a single for a single into the covers off the last ball of the set. South Africa are 3-1 from the last two overs. A small sample size, but England are mounting a fightback.
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WICKET! Rickelton c Buttler b Archer 35 (South Africa 73-1)
From nowhere! Rickelton tries to thwack Archer for six over square leg but catches a big top edge with his swishing blade. The ball goes very high and swirls in the air, but Buttler, circling under it, always looked assured. He snaffles it with a slight tumble forward and England finally get the breakthrough.
What goes up… Photograph: Adam Davy/PA…must come down! Photograph: Adam Davy/PAShare
Updated at 14.20 BST
13th over: South Africa 73-0 (Markram 35, Rickelton 35) Tidy over from Carse. Just two off it. Markram picks up a single thanks to a misfield from Bethell at point before Rickelton tapped one into the gap in the covers. Otherwise it was on the money, targeting the stumps.
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12th over: South Africa 71-0 (Markram 34, Rickelton 34) Markram has struggled so far but he looks a dream as he presses forward and smokes the returning Archer for four through the covers. Markram then clips four down to fine leg before forcing another boundary off the back foot through cover point. He almost makes it four fours from four balls with a push down the ground, but Brook scampered after it and hauled it in before the rope. Markram comes back for three which means the over is worth 16.
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11th over: South Africa 55-0 (Markram 19, Rickelton 33) Four singles off the first four balls means the Proteas are ticking along nicely. Markram’s first was a thick edge down to deep third but his second was a gorgeous back foot punch to the sweeper. Rickelton continues to accumulate with control. After winning the toss and choosing to bowl, Brook could do with a wicket.
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10th over: South Africa 51-0 (Markram 17, Rickelton 31) Rickelton looks in great nick. He leans into a slightly over-pitched ball from Mahmood and drives him past mid-on for four. Brook moves a catcher in front of square exactly where the ball went but Rickelton flashes another one through the off-side to bag four more.
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9th over: South Africa 43-0 (Markram 17, Rickelton 17) Rickelton bags nine streaky runs from that Carse over. First he chips a four down the ground but with little control, fortunate that he didn’t pick out a fielder. Then a simple run to mid-off has four more added to it after Archer’s direct hit side-stepped Bethell who was backing up. They all count.
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8th over: South Africa 34-0 (Markram 17, Rickelton 14) Markram isn’t nearly as fluent as he was on Tuesday. He faces a tight over from Mahmood that ends in a maiden. Lovely bowling, good lines, good lengths, to a set field. No runs there.
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7th over: South Africa 34-0 (Markram 17, Rickelton 14) There’s a bowling change. Carse replaces Archer. Rickelton welcomes him by lifting a flick over square leg for four. Carse adjusts his line and length and Rickelton bunts a few to the fielder at mid-off before he’s beaten by a beauty that straightens off a good length to beat the bat. There’s just one slip with the second catcher at a short point position. Rickelton is aware of the danger and plays the final ball with soft hands.
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6th over: South Africa 30-0 (Markram 17, Rickelton 10) Mahmood changes angles to bowl from round the wicket angling into the left hander Rickleton. He wants to avoid offering any width and also has a leg slip in place. His first ball beats the outside edge before Rickelton scampers a single down the ground with a straight bat. Mahmood then causes Markram some trouble with a lifter than spoons into space on the off-side and a fuller ball that thwacks the opener’s pads. Good contest out there.
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5th over: South Africa 29-0 (Markram 17, Rickelton 9) Markram has been kept in a cage so far but he climbs into a short ball from Archer and belts it for a flat six behind square leg. That followed a clipped double and then a single from Rickleton. Next came a wide down the leg side and suddenly Brook felt the need to tweak things – out goes the slip and in comes a catcher at short midwicket. Markram has now faced as many balls as he needed to reach 50 on Tuesday. Different sort of game here.
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4th over: South Africa 19-0 (Markram 11, Rickelton 6) ‘OOOOOH’ rings around Lord’s as Mahmood shoots one past Markram’s stiff back foot drive. Lift and a bit of nip off the deck. Markram isn’t finding it as easy as he did a couple of days ago. A wide down the leg side is followed by a late cut that is kept down to two thanks to a diving Carse at deep third.
Brook then burns a review with a howler. It was a full ball that jagged back into Markram, but the replay showed it was missing by a mile down leg. Mahmood closes out the over by beating Markram’s outside edge again.
What a busy over.
Saqib Mahmood appeals in vain as Markram survives. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 13.51 BST
3rd over: South Africa 16-0 (Markram 9, Rickelton 6) Markram picks up his first boundary of the day with a little nudge off his hips. Despite the rain it skittles along the deck and beats Smith to the midwicket rope. Archer drags his line a little wider and gets one to shoot back into Markram, causing him a little discomfort from back-of-a-length. Markram then gets on the front foot and though he doesn’t time his straight drive, gathers three past mid-on.
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2nd over: South Africa 9-0 (Markram 2, Rickelton 6) It’s Mahmood from the Nursery End. He’s pretty tight with his length for the first five balls but struggles a touch with his line. Markram tucks him for a single and Rickelton nudges a couple. Then the left hander climbs into some wide dross and smears a cut for four past point.
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1st over: South Africa 2-0 (Markram 1, Rickelton 0) Archer beats Markram with a full ball that angles in and shapes away. The rest of the over is banged in around a goodish length. One strays wide down the leg side and the final ball of the set is tickled down to fine leg for a single.
Markram’s off the mark! Photograph: Andy Kearns/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 13.25 BST
The players are making their way out to the middle.
Jonathan Agnew and Alastair Cook on TMS are expressing their sympathy for Sonny Baker who coughed up the most expensive ever figures by an English debutant. he’s been dropped, but it still feels a little harsh given the team lost because of their batters.
Anyway, we move on. Jofra Archer will bowl from the Pavilion End. Aiden Markram will face up.
Lord’s is mostly full. Two slips in place, fielders in the deep fine behind square either side of the wicket.
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Worth reminding everyone what happened the last time the Proteas were on this ground.
Why not, eh?
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The sun is shining though the hovercraft cover is still hanging about on the pitch.
It’s been one of those London days where they weather constantly gaslights you. It’s gloomy, it’s sunny, it’s wet, it’s dry, it’s balmy, it’s fresh. Make up your mind!
On TMS the gang reckon England should have batted first after winning the toss. Hmmm, both skippers were dead keen on a bowl.
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Our first email of the day is from regular correspondent John Starbuck:
Daniel. Good afternoon,
Well, that didn’t go well, did it? A prediction that the match would start at 13:00 already overturned by events. Just goes to show that very little is predictable in international cricket, especially when England are involved. Let’s all cross our fingers, except when emailing you; though typing an email with crossed fingers might well become a rite of passage for OBOers.
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According to Harry Brook, and Stuart Broad on comms, Sonny Baker hasn’t been dropped because of the pasting he received two days ago.
The argument is that on this pitch Saqib Mahmood’s fuller length will be a handful.
South Africa have two spinners. Which is…interesting. Lord’s isn’t really a grippy sort of surface. The bowlers in reserve are Kagiso Rabada (being rested) as well as young Kwena Maphaka and Codi Yusuf. But not of them can bat. So Senuran Muthusamy comes in as much for his willow-wielding as his orb-tweaking (just go with it).
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Teams
England: Duckett, Smith, Root, Brook (c), Buttler (wk), Bethell, Jacks, Carse, Archer, Rashid, Mahmood.
South Africa: Markram, Rickelton (wk), Bavuma (c), Breetzke, Stubbs, Brevis, Bosch, Muthusamy, Maharaj, Burger, Ngidi.
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England win the toss, have a bowl
“We think it’ll hopefully have a bit in it from thje start,” says Harry Brook.
He says it’s a “new day” and that the “series starts today”. It actually started on Tuesday, but we know what he means.
Sonny Baker, after getting loads of tap, misses out and is replaced by Saqib Mahmood.
Temba Bavuma also wanted to bowl. “We’ll just have to do a job with the bat,” he says.
The injured Tony de Zorzi, as well as the unwell Wiaan Mulder are absent from the team that did the job on Tuesday. Mathew Breetzke and Sunaren Muthusamy enter the fray.
Harry Brook gets some height on the coin toss. Photograph: Gareth Copley/ECB/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 13.14 BST
Matt Hughes has been doing his best Tillakaratne Dilshan impression by getting loads of scoops for us.
Here he lifts the lid on on a dispute over signings in the Hundred:
And here’s a yarn on the County Championship’s restructure:
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Delayed start
The sun may be shining but the outfield is still a little wet.
That means we’ll have the toss at 12:45 with play underway at 13:15.
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What did you make of Harry Brook’s seemingly blasé comments after their heavy defeat on Tuesday?
The skipper said: “Not ideal. Not a great start to the series – one of those bad days and we have to move on as soon as possible.”
Look, I get that players shouldn’t dwell on disappointing results. And that looking forward is healthy. But wouldn’t a little apology to the paying public have been welcome? Couldn’t he have acknowledge that an international game is expensive and time consuming, that many people would have taken a day off work, that some kids might have been watching England live for the first time?
I’m not saying Brook should serve jail time. It’s only cricket after all. But some sort of recognition for their abject show would have been welcome.
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This week’s Spin
The covers are on after some heavy, but brief showers. So while we wait for things to get underway, why not tuck into this week’s Spin.
It’s from yours truly on the magic of cricket scorecards. I’ve always loved them. I love looking at them. I love filling them with little names and numbers. So I decided to write about them with the help of two legends of the craft.
Hope you enjoy it:
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Preamble
Daniel Gallan
Ready or not, here comes another one! England were rubbish two days ago. After getting bowled out for 131, they got tonked by Aiden Markram in a seven-wicket rout.
The good news is that there’s little time to contemplate that result as the boys are back. It’s a mad schedule, one that flogs players, tests journalists and asks so much from the paying public. But that’s the modern game and on we go.
England need to improve in just about every department at the Home of Cricket today but its their batting that needs a serious rethink. As Mark Butcher said at Headingley on Tuesday, they fail to recognise that putting the brakes on for a little bit in the innings isn’t a sign of weakness but is often the sensible thing to do. When they’re rolling they look unstoppable. But when they need to take stock and consolidate they’re a shambles.
Can they rectify their mistakes today? If not they’ll lose the series with a game to spare.
There’s a bit of mizzle in the air around west London but we should get a full game on.
I’m excited to kick things off today. If you’d like to get in touch please drop me a mail. Reckon this England team can show a bit of humility and common sense? Or is that just woke nonsense in the age of Baz? Let me know.
Play gets underway at 1pm BST.
Toss, team news and other bits to come.
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