First Test
England ease to victory over South Africa at Lord’s
THERE is no understating the importance of the fact that England’s first Test victory against South Africa at Lord’s since 1960 was built on the back of an outstanding captaincy debut from Joe Root.
Coming into this contest on the back of six Tests without a win, England needed to start life under their new leader on a positive note.
Root did not disappoint, scoring 190 in his first innings in the job and then backing that up with an assertive on-field performance that bodes well for the future.
England were ruthless once they established a first-innings lead of 97. Things may have been slow on the third day, when former captain Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings and the recalled Gary Ballance crawled along at less than 2.5 runs an over as they methodically extended their team’s advantage on a wearing pitch.
But this Test hit fast forward on a fourth day that saw 19 wickets fall and South Africa steamrollered by an outstanding display of spin bowling from Moeen Ali.
Moeen’s 6-53 helped skittle the tourists for 119 after they had been set 331 to win.
Overall his 10-wicket match haul plus his first-innings 87 represented the best all-round display by an England player since 1980, when Ian Botham took 13 wickets and scored a century against India in the Golden Jubilee Test in Mumbai.
However, it was Root’s outstanding first-innings knock, which helped his side recover from 76-4 on the opening day, that set up the possibility of the frantic fourth-day finish.
Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, was fulsome in his praise of the new captain, saying: “We spoke about Joe being himself, getting the message across in his way – don’t try to be something he’s not. He’s a pro-active, confident sort of a young bloke and I thought that came across in the way he led the team in this match.”
Root hailed Moeen’s man-ofthe-match display, saying:“He’s at his best when he’s attacking in his style. He makes it very difficult for batsmen.Whenever you can get a spinner beating both sides of the bat it’s very difficult to face.”
The Yorkshireman was also keen to point out that despite the efforts of himself and Moeen, this 211-run win was a real team effort. “It’s a great start and the whole team were fabulous throughout,” he said.
“Everything that was thrown at them and asked of them, they responded extremely well and it’s great to be 1-0 up going into Trent Bridge.
“Everyone’s played their part – people did stand up at certain times. It might not have been a six-fer or a hundred, but there were some crucial periods where guys stood up and affected the game in a proactive manner.”
Moeen’s performance came after he was told by Bayliss he was being picked primarily as a batsman from now on following his difficult winter with the ball in India, where he was outperformed by team-mate Adil Rashid.
Despite his return at Lord’s, Bayliss was sticking to the notion that the 30-year-old was still the team’s No2 spinner behind Liam Dawson, for whom this was just his second Test.
“He wants to be in the team as a batter that bowls a bit so we’ve selected him as a batter and the second spinner,” the Australian said of Moeen.
“It’s probably more so for Mo’s benefit, to take a little bit of that pressure off him. He is a bit of a complex character at times. I suppose that doesn’t mean he’s still not our best spinner but his No.1 job is to bat. Hopefully, this match is the start of things to come for him.”
Whatever the semantics of England’s spin hierarchy, Moeen was emphatic about the start of his Test summer.
“It was the best all round performance of my career,” he said. “It is almost like a fresh start for me with a new captain.”
Ballance, who has enjoyed an outstanding summer so far for Yorkshire, didn’t wholly convince on his Test return, scoring 20 and 34.
But England will give him every opportunity to make the most of this third and final opportunity at Test level.
“Gary had two starts I suppose on this wicket, but 30-odd on that type of wicket in difficult circumstances,” said Bayliss.“You can’t average 100 in county cricket without being able to play.
“I’m sure he would have liked to have scored more and hopefully that comes in the next few Test matches.”