Watch: Is It A Bird? Stuart Broad Plucks One Out Of Thin Air To Dismiss Kagiso Rabada

Ben Stokes put on a typically talismanic performance as the home team tried to Baz-brawl their way back into contention, but South Africa found contributions from all sides and maintained the lead on day two at Lord’s, defying the hype surrounding England in the lead-up to this Test.

South Africa were ahead by just 45 runs when they went from 160 for 2 to 210 for 6, but a late counterpunch from Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj in the third session on Day 2 extended their lead.

South Africa In Driver’s Seat In First Test

When the shadows at Lord’s grew longer, Maharaj was caught hooking at Stokes, but Jansen displayed his all-around talent with a barrage of boundaries.

Van der Dussen was defeated by the threat of the short ball from Stokes after a fuller delivery trapped him on the crease and a review revealed that the ball would have crashed into his leg stump. Stuart Broad picked Kyle Verreyne’s outside edge a few overs later to record his 100th dismissal at Lord’s.

When asked to bat in the most difficult conditions of the game thus far, South Africa responded to an England total that appeared meagre even in that context, and they did so with a discipline that was consistent with captain Dean Elgar’s preferred approach. Even so, their scoring rate of 3.75 per over was significantly higher than England’s much more nimble batting performance, suggesting that they were not necessarily playing attritional.

Watch: Is It A Bird? Stuart Broad Plucks One Out Of Thin Air To Dismiss Kagiso Rabada:

Oh Broady! ?

Live clips: https://t.co/2nFwGblL1E

??????? #ENGvSA ?? | @StuartBroad8 pic.twitter.com/SCkwjfD7g5

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 19, 2022

On day 3 Kagiso Rabada tried to pick up from where Maharaj had left as he hooked a short ball towards mid-wicket. the ball seemed to be sailing over Stuart Broad but it was not to be as the lanky pacer jumped at the perfect time to pluck the catch out of thin air to dismiss Rabada.

South Africa in any case is approaching a lead of 150.

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