England lifted by captain fantastic
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.
It was not his most animated reaction to reaching a hundred but it was surely 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 unbeaten on 184 out of England’s 357 for five after ensuring his ship did not hit the rocks at the start of his reign. Not only did it mean Root followed his immediate predecessors in 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, were on top when they sent four England batsmen packing before lunch on the opening 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.
The early optimism surrounding the new captain could easily have already been punctured had Root been caught by a wandering substitute in Aiden Markram at long leg on five or by JP Duminy at third slip on 16.
‘I thought I’d hit it straight to him,’ said Root after top-edging Kagiso Rabada just over the head of Markram at fine leg. ‘It could have been very different.’
But once Root had overcome early leadership nerves and settled in alongside his vice-captain Ben Stokes, South Africa’s formidable pace attack began to wilt and the complexion changed.
Root added 114 with Stokes and then a rollocking 167 with Moeen Ali with the 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 waste having Root stumped on 149 by overstepping off his five-step run-up.
Root took particular delight in avoiding the Mahara stumping, having never previously been out to a no-ball from a spinner.
‘It’s a nice feeling getting that call back,’ he said. ‘It was pretty special. I’m in a bit of a dream world. At times I rode my luck, but it was one of those days when everything seems to fall into place. When you get a life early, you feel like it is your day and you’ve got to make the most of it.’
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.
They had no such initial worries when they made the brave new England 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.
The early evidence is that Gary Ballance will continue to be exposed by the very best bowling, especially batting at three, after he was predictably trapped in the crease and palpably lbw after being pushed back by 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.
Cook 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 before Rabada claimed a thin edge off an attempted pull.
It was the best moment of a disappointing day for Rabada, who appeared to shout ‘f*** off’ at Stokes in an unedifying send-off that caused the England vicecaptain 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.
Root now has the chance today to get England up to a score from which they could turn the new captain’s perfect first day in the job into a victorious opening Test.