CRICKET NEWS - A remarkable century from captain Joe Root carried England to a position of dominance on day one of the crucial first test against South Africa at Lord's in London on Thursday.
Dropped by gully fielder JP Duminy before reaching 20 and stumped off spinner Keshav Maharaj's near unforgivable no-ball on 149, Root welcomed a superb 184 not out in a fine total of 357 for five.
He became the sixth Englishman to gather a ton on test captaincy debut, after Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Allan Lamb, Andrew Strauss and Archie MacLaren.
The Proteas, meanwhile, rued several missed chances - and an evidently lean seam attack.
With allrounder Chris Morris deemed surplus to requirement in the final XI, captain Dean Elgar ultimately turned to part-time seamers Theunis de Bruyn and Temba Bavuma for five ineffective overs each.
Substitute fielder Aiden Markram, meanwhile, lamented missing a sharp chance given by Root on the fine-leg boundary - and wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock was unable to hold onto an edge afforded by the same batsman.
Fast bowler Morne Morkel, too, afforded allrounder Ben Stokes a reprieve by bowling him, but also literally overstepped the line.
Morkel has now 'taken a wicket' off a no-ball 12 times in international cricket - the most by anyone. Former Australia pace ace Brett Lee did so on 11 occasions.
The reliable Vernon Philander was arguably under-bowled, while pace ace Kagiso Rabada was off key throughout the day - and was guilty of some poor fielding.
Maharaj, well, was largely ineffective - and well targeted by Root and half-centurion Moeen Ali, in particular.
The Proteas' over-rate, too, was sluggish. They should have bowled 90, but fell three short, despite a third session extended by 30 minutes.
He became the sixth Englishman to gather a ton on test captaincy debut, after Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Allan Lamb, Andrew Strauss and Archie MacLaren.
The Proteas, meanwhile, rued several missed chances - and an evidently lean seam attack.
With allrounder Chris Morris deemed surplus to requirement in the final XI, captain Dean Elgar ultimately turned to part-time seamers Theunis de Bruyn and Temba Bavuma for five ineffective overs each.
Substitute fielder Aiden Markram, meanwhile, lamented missing a sharp chance given by Root on the fine-leg boundary - and wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock was unable to hold onto an edge afforded by the same batsman.
Fast bowler Morne Morkel, too, afforded allrounder Ben Stokes a reprieve by bowling him, but also literally overstepped the line.
Morkel has now 'taken a wicket' off a no-ball 12 times in international cricket - the most by anyone. Former Australia pace ace Brett Lee did so on 11 occasions.
The reliable Vernon Philander was arguably under-bowled, while pace ace Kagiso Rabada was off key throughout the day - and was guilty of some poor fielding.
Maharaj, well, was largely ineffective - and well targeted by Root and half-centurion Moeen Ali, in particular.
The Proteas' over-rate, too, was sluggish. They should have bowled 90, but fell three short, despite a third session extended by 30 minutes.
