England’s attack has Proteas reeling in first session

England took full advantage of excellent bowling conditions as they claimed five wickets to have the Proteas in real trouble on 77-5 in the first session of the second Test at Old Trafford on Thursday.

Winning the toss and choosing to make first use of the Old Trafford pitch, Proteas openers Dean Elgar and Sarel Erwee found batting tough.

The left-hand openers found it hard to score runs as Erwee made just three from 12 balls while Elgar took 15 deliveries to get off the mark.

Erwee was the first wicket of the morning when Anderson got one to straighten and find an inside edge, the catch gloved by wicketkeeper Ben Foakes.

Elgar became Stuart Broad’s first victim, offering Jonny Bairstow a low catch at third slip with SA on 35 for 2 after 13 overs.

Keegan Petersen was resilient, striking three boundaries on his way to 21 before he too was sent packing by Broad, presenting an easy catch to Joe Root at first slip with the score on 41 for 3.

The visitors brought up their 50 at the end of the 18th over, but things were about to get worse.

Stokes claimed SA’s fourth wicket when Aiden Markram top-edged a delivery, comfortably taken by Foakes, before removing Rassie van der Dussen for 16, leg before wicket. The decision was reviewed and upheld after it was given out by umpire Chris Gaffaney. 

Kyle Verreynne (4) and Simon Harmer (0) saw out the final over by Jack Leach to take SA to lunch.

Stokes and Broad shared four wickets for 23 runs while Anderson claimed one.

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