England Vs South Africa 1st Test: James Anderson Happy With England’s Bowling Performance On A Pitch That Isn’t Doing Much

Apr 6, 2019 at 2:11 PM

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England Vs South Africa 1st Test: James Anderson Happy With England’s Bowling Performance On A Pitch That Isn’t Doing Much

England fast-bowler James Anderson was delighted with his team’s bowling efforts in the first innings of the ongoing Test against South Africa at Lord’s. The Proteas began the proceedings on 214 for 5 but could add only 147 runs to their overnight score before England extended their lead to 216 runs to take total command of the match after the third day’s play.

Temba Bavuma departed after adding only 11 runs to his overnight score of 48 but Quinton de Kock’s quickfire fifty and Vernon Philander’s 86-ball 52 ensured that South Africa does not concede a very big lead. The Dean Elgar-led side were all out for 361 and Anderson was happy with the bowling performance on a pitch which had little assistance for the bowlers.

He also said that England will start the fourth day in a strong position and hoped that the Three Lions can decide the next course of action on the fourth day afternoon. England were 119 for 1 at the end of day’s play with former skipper Alastair Cook batting 59 in the company of Gary Ballance who was playing on 22.

“I thought we bowled pretty well on a pitch which isn’t doing a huge amount, a bit of spin there but it’s a good pitch still,” said Anderson. “It puts us in a strong position going into tomorrow. Hopefully, we can build on this partnership [between Alastair Cook and Gary Ballance] and we can make a decision what to do tomorrow afternoon.”

Dismissing de Kock was undoubtedly the most important moment of the day. The wicketkeeper-batsman has raced away to his fifty off just 36 balls before being caught by Ben Stokes in an unusual short square cover position just before lunch. Anderson said it was Joe Root’s idea who is leading the team for the first time.

“It was Joe’s idea,” Anderson said. “We had that guy square on the offside for a few of their guys. The pace of the pitch determined that and it turned out to be a very good field placing.”

The senior bowler also had a word of praise for the new captain.

“I think he’s been really good.The guys have enjoyed him. He tried to be positive with his fields and rotated the bowlers well, kept us short spells yesterday when it was hot,” he said.

South Africa’s miseries were compiled by Vernon Philander’s absence in the second game. The fast-bowler, who had taken 3 wickets in the first innings, did not come out to bowl due to an injury he sustained while batting. But Anderson said the visitors bowled well and credited Cook for steering hosts to a position of strength.

“I thought they [South Africa] bowled really well tonight,” Anderson said. “There weren’t many freebies. It was spinning out of the rough for the left-handers. You wouldn’t want anyone else in that position [aside from Cook] to graft through an evening session to put us in a good position for tomorrow. I thought he did it brilliantly.”

England are totally in command of the proceedings and Anderson hoped that the pitch deteriorates more as the game progresses. With Moeen Ali and Liam Dawson in the playing eleven, England would surely fancy their chances of going 1-0 up in the four-match series if the Lord’s pitch assists the spinners. Moreover, the variable bounce would only help the English pacers to make life tough for South Africa.

“Hopefully it will deteriorate even more and see a few more signs of going up and down,” he added.

“We’ve seen signs of spin out of the rough and I imagine that will continue throughout the game and maybe even off the straight. The one that hit Philander on the glove bounced a bit and there were a couple I bowled to him that kept low. From our point of view, we hope that happens more and more,” concluded Anderson.

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