England v South Africa: first Test, day two – live!

23rd over: South Africa 89-1 (Erwee 31, Petersen 4) Keegan Petersen gets off the mark in a manner that another KP would recognise, with a handsome flick through square leg for four. But England have their breakthrough – one they badly needed.

Wicket!! Elgar b Anderson 47 (SA 85-1)

22nd over: South Africa 84-0 (Elgar 47, Erwee 30) After using his first option, Stokes now tries his third – himself. He’s been bowling hard in the nets since retiring from ODIs, trying to straighten his dicky knee, but you wouldn’t know it from this over, which goes for eight – two more fours to Elgar, one punched past the bowler, the other steered through the covers.

“Actually Tim,” says Jeremy Boyce from the 13th over, “it gets better. I was working for the famous Collis King World Cup final, England v Windies, but further round, on the Ground Stand, upper tier. There were 3 of us on the gate, and my 2 more experienced colleagues showed me how to accept ‘cash’ payments to grant access. This was mainly granted to Windies fans, who usually presented themselves carrying slabs of Red Stripe, the entry ‘price’ was 6 cans. At the same time, my friend Martin was working in the Long Room bar and showed me the ‘round the back’ employees’ entrance so he could fuel me with free pints if and when needed. Between the Stripe and the Bitter, plus the cricket (this is a cricket story, right?) I was having a great day, which got even better when I went upstairs to hang out with the Windies fans, watch the action, and be handed a reggae cigarette. It could only have been bettered if I’d been able to do pitch boundary duties, where they gave you an armband to wear that said Grass Patrol.”

21st over: South Africa 75-0 (Elgar 39, Erwee 30) And here is Anderson, still bidding to join Graham Gooch on his perch as the most prolific 40-something England seamer of the past 50 years (with one wicket). He starts this spell with a juicy great jaffa, swinging away late, far too good for Elgar, who gives a rueful smile of acknowledgment. But again Elgar shovels a couple. He and Erwee have done very well since lunch at cashing in when they can.

20th over: South Africa 73-0 (Elgar 37, Erwee 30) Matthew Potts, who got so much right against New Zealand, is now getting it all wrong. He keeps straying onto the pads, giving Elgar a big fat freebie, duly Cheffed away for four, and then conceding four leg-byes. His six overs have gone for 36, whereas Anderson’s six cost only five.

19th over: South Africa 64-0 (Elgar 32, Erwee 30) Sky’s stats people revealed a few minutes ago that England’s seamers average 25 against right-handers since lockdown, and 34 against left-handers. That might be very different if they’d gone back to 2019, when Broad had David Warner on toast. He beats Elgar now with a Warner special, angled in and jagging away, but Elgar just shrugs it off and helps himself to a cover push for three. Stokes is now in a tight corner. Does he bring back Anderson, try Leach for the first over of spin in the match, or send for himself?

18th over: South Africa 61-0 (Elgar 29, Erwee 30) Yes, it’s official: South Africa have taken up Bazball. Potts dishes up some uncharacteristically mediocre stuff and both openers tuck in – a cut for four by Elgar, a steer for three by Elgar, and a whip for four by Erwee. That’s 34 off six overs since lunch. We need to know what these batters chose from the mouthwatering Lord’s menu.

17th over: South Africa 50-0 (Elgar 22, Erwee 26) Another edge brings up the fifty as Erwee, facing Broad, keeps it down and picks up two more. The first 27 came off 12 overs, the last 23 off only five: maybe Elgar does believe in attacking cricket after all.

16th over: South Africa 48-0 (Elgar 22, Erwee 24) Sarel Erwee has done the hard part and is beginning to enjoy the slightly easier part. He sees a full one from Potts, risks a straight drive and reaps his reward with his third boundary.

“I doubt you can do anything whatever about this,” says Steph Cooper, “but the latest changes to the Guardian’s format are really disappointing.

“1. The pinned entry at the top of the blog is ridiculous, pointless. and makes the blog harder to follow. 2. I don’t know what was wrong with simply linking to the blog writer’s email as happened in the past. 3. We’re currently not able to comment BTL because comment hasn’t yet been enabled. Hopefully this at least you will be able to fix. Thanks for all your work on these live blogs, it is much appreciated.”

Thank you! And your estimate of my powers is spot-on, except that I can’t switch on comments BTL. To be fair, we never have them on the OBO.

15th over: South Africa 43-0 (Elgar 22, Erwee 19) Elgar gets one on the pads from Broad and does what Test openers do, tucking it away for four. Are you Alastair Cook in disguise? Broad strikes back, drawing a nick, but it’s thick enough to go for four. This game is already in danger of slipping through Ben Stokes’s fingers.

14th over: South Africa 35-0 (Elgar 14, Erwee 19) Potts continues from the Nursery end and beats Erwee with the in-ducker, jagging past the inside edge. Erwee’s riposte is a square drive for four, his best shot yet. He likes it so much, he immediately tries it again with less success – uppish and squirted to backward point for two. The gods seem to be on South Africa’s side today.

13th over: South Africa 29-0 (Elgar 14, Erwee 13) No drama yet, which is just how Dean Elgar likes it. He keeps Broad out and plays a square push for two.

This is a nice tale. “You’re not wrong,” says Jeremy Boyce, “about the lunches at Lord’s. Many moons ago I had a job there stewarding Test matches, Cup finals, one-dayers…. Not much pay but you could watch most of the cricket once everyone was sat down. A couple of times i worked on the entrance to the private boxes in the Mound Stand, where lunches were served in dining rooms just off the boxes. The customers never finished, probably didn’t eat half, it’s only 40 minutes, not a 2 hour restaurant job. Once they had re-taken their seats for the afternoon the catering staff used to invite us up to enjoy finishing it all off, and I can confirm, it was, as they say, top scram!

“Looking forward to a feast of batting this afternoon, or will Jimmy magic something out of the pitch with all his 40 years’ wisdom and experience?”

It’s going to be Stuart Broad, switching to the Pavilion end, where the slope should accentuate his natural movement away from these two left-handers.

Lunch! SA’s openers survive

11th over: South Africa 26-0 (Elgar 12, Erwee 13) Stokes is itching to make something happen before the break. He see the field he has set for Anderson – four slips and a gully – and decides it’s not attacking enough, so he brings in a sixth catcher at short cover. He does this without consulting Anderson, who is walking back to his mark, and is understandably put out. The consequence is that nothing happens. Elgar plays out another maiden, and Anderson has 6-2-5-0.

10th over: South Africa 26-0 (Elgar 12, Erwee 13) Just when Broad was bowling better, Ben Stokes takes him off – perhaps to change ends, or just to give the admirable Potts a go before lunch. The ploy nearly works as Potts lures Elgar into a crooked poke and a thick nick, but Crawley at second slip can only tip it over the bar as it flies over his head (and he is tall). Before that Potts tried to york Erwee, who responded well and played his first scoring shot in the V.

9th over: South Africa 18-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 10) Erwee, facing Anderson, goes into double figures with another unconvincing stroke, a thick inside edge. But he survives, which is all that is being asked of him with ten minutes to go till lunch. On this evidence he may be a champion nurdler.

Elgar saved by a review!

7th over: South Africa 16-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 8) Hang on, Jimmy’s found his mojo. He produces the ball of the morning, leaving Elgar so sharply that there’s no chance of an edge, and then rattles the pads with the one that comes back in. The only run from the over was a Harrow drive by Erwee that could easily have hit his leg stump. The fella aged 40 now has figures of 4-1-4-0.

6th over: South Africa 15-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 7) Broad to Erwee, and this is a maiden. A graphic shows that England’s seamers have found more swing than South Africa’s and have bowled a fuller length. But they haven’t, as yet, been as threatening.

“Hello,” says Michael Avery. “I’m sure you mean well but it would be great if this box could be unpinned. I just want to read the OBO and check up on how badly England are doing. Thanks a million.” That may be above my pay grade.

5th over: South Africa 15-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 7) Erwee bides his time against Anderson, seeing off five dots before shovelling to deep square for two. Matthew Potts, running round to field, ends up taking a huge divot out of the turf, but he seems too be fine. Happens all the time in Durham.

“Is Ian Bell still in the ground?” asks Tricycle. “Just wondering, y’know…” Ha. Ollie Pope’s innings did ring a Bell.

4th over: South Africa 13-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 5) Erwee, facing Broad, opens his account at the bank of England with a tuck for four. Broad fights back, moving the ball enough to find a leading edge, whereupon Erwee produces a retort too, pushing into the covers for a single to nick the strike. His name may look like Er-wee! but it seems to be pronounced Er-veer. Or Er-via, as in Via Dolorosa.

3rd over: South Africa 8-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 0) Anderson would love a full over at Erwee, but a leg-bye gets in the way. Still, this is a maiden as both batters are watchful. In a Guardian exclusive, I can reveal that the South Africans are not playing Bazball.

2nd over: South Africa 7-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 0) At the other end it’s Stuart Broad, who is (whisper it) a bit lucky to be in the team now that Ollie Robinson is fit and firing. Broad’s Test bowling average this summer is 38, whereas Anderson’s is 18 and Potts’s is 26. In his first over here Broad pitches it up without finding the movement he’s looking for, so Elgar helps himself to a push for four through mid-on and another one for two past cover.

“The new messaging format caught me off-guard this morning,” says Tom. “A bit like when Twitter or Facebook suddenly change their layout. I hope it’s not due to journalists receiving unpleasant trolling and abuse to their work emails.” Don’t think so – thankfully, 99 per cent of you guys are far too good for that.

“I also like the anonymity it gives… Some of my early OBO comments from the mid-noughties potentially contradict the professional image I now try to present.” Ha.

1st over: South Africa 1-0 (Elgar 1, Erwee 0) Anderson gets some movement straight away, coming around the wicket to the left-handed Dean Elgar, finding bounce as well as outswing. When he brings one back in, Ben Foakes pulls off a fine diving take but it’s off the pad. Elgar plays tip-and-run, dabbing into the covers. For Sarel Erwee, Anderson comes over the wicket but his radar goes wrong for once and the ball drifts down the leg side, untouched.

You can probably guess who’s going to bowl the first over.

Well bowled South Africa. But 165 isn’t quite the abyss England were staring into at 55 for four. Without Ollie Pope’s punchy 73, they would have been bundled out in double figures. The ball was swinging, if anything, too much for Rabada this morning, so let’s see what Jimmy Anderson has up his sleeve.

Only one Test wicket has been taken by a 40-something English seamer in the past 50 years: Michael Slater at Brisbane in 1994, c Gatting b Gooch, for 176. If Jimmy’s next victim has 176 to his name, this game will be a goner.

Wicket! Anderson LBW b Rabada 0 (England 165 all out)

45th over: England 164-9 (Potts 5, Anderson 0) Jack Leach, who will always be celebrated for making 1 not out off 17 balls, is now the kind of guy who makes 15 off 17.

And here comes a man in his 40s – Sir James Anderson. The crowd, many of whom are a lot older than that, give him a warm welcome.

Wicket! Leach b Jansen 15 (England 164-9)

43rd over: England 160-8 (Potts 4, Leach 12) Rabada to Potts: more of the same – a swing (from both of them) and a miss. Rabada picks up a maiden: he now has 18-3-51-4.

“Please tell me,” says Michael Lynes, “this is a joke: ‘All champagne corks popped into the boundary will be collected by underprivileged children during breaks.’” It is a joke.

42nd over: England 160-8 (Potts 4, Leach 12) A little victory for the England tail: they’ve seen off Nortje, whose chances of making the honours board are now looking slim. On comes Marco Jansen, who is taller but also slower. Jack Leach celebrates with a controlled slash over the slips for four and a confident cover shovel for four more.

“Hi Tim,” says an old friend of the OBO. “What’s with the send us your thoughts panels? Is this something just imposed by the Guardian’s legal people? If so, there really ought to be a reason given for this sudden requirement. Or are OBO writers getting too many emails to cope with them all? Yours frequently, John Starbuck.”

It’s an experiment involving all the live blogs. You and I are just the guinea pigs!

41st over: England 152-8 (Potts 4, Leach 4) Rabada continues, mostly wobbling the ball about on fourth stump, far too good to draw an edge from Potts, but the one straight delivery is well handled with a shove to midwicket for two.

40th over: England 150-8 (Potts 2, Leach 4) We’ve had a few slogs, now we need a proper tail-end squirt through the slips for four. And here is Jack Leach to provide it. He gets off the mark and brings up the 150. Not bad after being 55 for four.

“The OBO is my absolute favourite,” says Trevor. “I read it as it is witty and a way of being at the ground when you can’t be at the ground.” Thanks! (Trade secret: I’m not at the ground either.)

39th over: England 146-8 (Potts 2, Leach 0) That was a bit brainless from Broad, who had just remembered that it is possible to move over to the off side and push to leg, which brought him two. Still, 15 is about par from him these days.

“Morning Tim, morning everyone,” says Andrew. “I’m just trying this new-fangled comment box option. Do you prefer this to being emailed?”

I couldn’t possibly comment.

Wicket! Broad c Elgar b Rabada 15 (England 145-8)

38th over: England 143-7 (Broad 13, Potts 2) After being given four for weaving at that bouncer, Broad is in the mood. He steps back to leg and hits Nortje for four with a rasping cross-court forehand. Then he bunts him past mid-on for three. Nortje is the Brett Lee de nos jours – he comes bearing runs as well as wickets.

Potts, joining in the fun, slices a drive over cover for two. And England have their highest first-innings total in a Test at Lord’s in 2022.

37th over: England 134-7 (Broad 6, Potts 0) Here’s Matthew Potts, who already seems like a senior player after four Tests. Rabada greets him with a yorker which he does well to jab down on. Then there’s a big outswinger, too wide to tempt Potts to his doom. But that’s another fine over from Rabada, who now has all of England’s top three in the bag.

Wicket! Pope b Rabada 73 (England 134-7)

36th over: England 134-6 (Pope 73, Broad 6) Purposeful as ever, Pope on-drives Nortje for two. Dean Elgar, either being pragmatic or blinking first, sends a cover sweeper out, so Pope’s next square drive yields only a single. Nortje gives Broad a bouncer, a real steepler, which goes for four byes – no, four runs. Not sure even Broad is tall enough to hit that one.

35th over: England 127-6 (Pope 70, Broad 2) Pope, undaunted by that narrow escape, lunges out at a wide one from Rabada and square-drives for three. Broad gets bat on ball at last with his big mow, lofting over mid-off and taking a couple. Rabada retorts with a yorker, too good for Broad, but too swingy to trouble the stumps.

34th over: England 122-6 (Pope 67, Broad 0) As expected, it’s Anrich Nortje taking precedence over Lungi Ngidi after his fiery three-for yesterday. This time he’s too wide outside off stump and Stuart Broad has a few wafts without getting his bat in the right postcode.

Pope dropped! On 67

The players are out there and so is the sun. Ollie Pope, England’s lone star of the game so far, is ready to face the first ball from Kagiso Rabada.

Back in the real world, Andrew Strauss and his sons Sam and Luca are on the field to mark Red For Ruth day. Andrew is in his red suit, like a dad going to a teenage party as The Joker. Sam and Luca are in red T-shirts and red bucket hats, like two kids at a festival. What he lacks in terms of hair, they more than make up with the sort of fluffy long-at-the-front look that you would have seen on the cover of Smash Hits in 1983.

“Today at Lord’s,” says Den Wise, “it’s ‘give a cork, help an urchin’ day to show solidarity with hard-working families. All champagne corks popped into the boundary will be collected by underprivileged children during breaks and sold to raise funds for the working class. So go on and remember, at Lord’s, once you pop you cannot stop!”

Oof. Yesterday we had a very middle-class protest by Doctors For Extinction Rebellion. Andy Bull writes very eloquently about it in today’s Guardian. Not a peep from The Times, as far as I could see.

“So,” says Nick, “will England manage to crack 150? To play suicidal attacking cricket with such a long tail seems a bizarre approach!”

Narrator: Most of them got out playing defensive shots.

You’re right to suggest that they may not make it to 150 – but in the last Lord’s Test, they were skittled for 141, and that worked out all right.

“Good morning from Chiswick,” says Ed, “where the weather is looking hopeful for a full day’s cricket. Looking forward to seeing Anderson and Broad wallop it around for half an hour this morning before removing SA’s top five for diddly squat.”

Well, Broad is a walloper, and he’s just been on the telly saying this is not a pitch to “poke and prod” on, because there’ll soon be “a ball with your name on”. But I’m not so sure about Anderson – it’s been some time since he was in touch with his inner slogger.

Correction! Play is not starting at 10.30. According to a tweet from Lord’s itself, the start is at 11am BST. Apologies for misleading you. Cricket, like God, moves in mysterious ways.

The covers are off! And the commentators are wearing red for the Ruth Strauss Foundation. Teamed with black trousers, in the case of Ian Ward and Mike Atherton, while Mel Jones and Andrew Strauss go for the full scarlet suit. I have to say, it works better for her than for him – but total respect to Sir Andrew and his boys for the funds they have raised and the way they’ve turned a sad loss into something so uplifting. If you feel a donation coming on, please go here.

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Preamble: all or nothing

Play starts at 10.30am BST, weather permitting, to make up some of the time lost yesterday. Do stay with us – it’s unlikely to be dull.