ROOT’S A REAL LEADING LIGHT
New reign begins with a century as skipper comes to the rescue
JOE ROOT swept the gentle left-arm spin of Keshav Maharaj for three, clenched his fist in triumph and kissed the England badge on his helmet. He has shown more animated reactions on reaching a hundred, but this century was nevertheless the most special.
What a start as captain. What an epic demonstration of leading from the front from the man charged with ending the ‘stagnation’ of this England Test team.
It says everything about the domination of Root that he should end his first day in the biggest job in English cricket unbeaten on 184 out of England’s 357 for five after ensuring his ship did not hit the rocks at the very start of his reign.
Not only did it mean Root followed his immediate predecessors Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook in making a hundred in his first Test in charge, but he raced past Cook’s record 173 by a new England captain.
South Africa, unbeaten in any Lord’s Test since 1960 and a force away from home unmatched by any side in cricket, were very much on top when they sent four England batsmen packing before lunch on the first day of this first Test.
Yet Root took advantage of two huge slices of early luck to stamp his authority on both his side and this Investec series with his 12th and most significant Test hundred in front of three generations of his family.
The early optimism surrounding the new captain could easily have been punctured had Root been caught on five by substitute fielder Aiden Markram, who had wandered too far in at long leg, or by JP Duminy at third slip on 16.
But once Root had overcome early leadership nerves and a cold that necessitated three layers of clothing, he settled in alongside his vice- captain Ben Stokes as South Africa’s formidable pace attack began to wilt and the complexion of this belated opening Test changed.
Root added 114 with Stokes and then a rollicking 167 with Moeen Ali, with power to add today, as South Africa were made to pay not only for their dropped chances but also an inexplicable inability to avoid overstepping.
It may be considered unlucky for Morne Morkel to transgress with a no ball when he bowled Stokes on 44 but it was downright careless for Maharaj to have Root stumped on 149, only for the third umpire to confirm he had overstepped off his five-pace run-up.
How South Africa could rue their profligacy on a dry Lord’s pitch which could provide more spin than usual when the sun that is expected to carry on shining over the next couple of days widens the cracks that were there at the start.
South Africa had no such worries early on when they made this new England side look very much like the old one that lost eight Tests last year, by exposing the seemingly ever-present problems at the top of the order.
It was Root who had insisted he had his close friend and Yorkshire captain Gary Ballance alongside him once it became clear England could not pick Lancashire opener Haseeb Hameed, who has not scored a first-class 50 this season.
But the early evidence is that Ballance will continue to be exposed by the very best bowling, especially batting at No 3, after he was predictably trapped in the crease and palpably lbw after being pushed back by Morne Morkel.
It capped a bad morning for Ballance, who had failed to encourage Keaton Jennings to review what looked to the naked eye to be a bad lbw decision from Indian umpire Sundaram Ravi off the outstanding Vernon Philander. Replays showed the ball had not only pitched outside leg but would have missed the stumps.
Cook, so outstanding in scoring six hundreds for Essex this season, had made a poor start to his new life as senior professional by playing a loose waft at Philander before Ballance compounded his own dismissal by wasting a review.
When Jonny Bairstow became Philander’s third victim of the morning, England were in big trouble at 76 for four. But Stokes immediately took the attack to South Africa and England did not lose a wicket in the afternoon session. Stokes perished soon after tea, when Kagiso Rabada claimed a thin edge off an attempted pull.
It was the best moment of a disappointing day for Rabada, who appeared to shout ‘**** off’ at Stokes in an unedifying send- off that caused the England vice-captain to turn around on his way back to the pavilion.
It also proved to be South Africa’s last success of a day when their shamefully tardy approach left three overs unbowled despite the extra half-hour. Only 16 of the 87 overs that were bowled came from Philander, with stand-in captain Dean Elgar over-using Rabada in giving him 23.
England will hope that, with four Tests in little more than a month, South Africa carry on bowling their prime asset into the ground.
For now Root has the chance to put more miles into Rabada’s young legs today and get England up to a score from which they could turn the new captain’s perfect opening day into a victorious opening Test.
4 ROOT and Moeen have now shared four century partnerships together in Tests. Moeen has only had three other century stands — with Alastair Cook, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow