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England thrash South Africa by 211 runs: first Test, day four – as it happened

Moeen Ali took the first ten-for of his Test career as England romped to victory in Joe Root’s first game as captain

5.38pm BST

That’s about it for our coverage of this Test. It’s been an idyllic start for Joe Root, and South Africa will surely make a few changes for the second Test at Trent Bridge on Friday. Thanks for your company. Bye!

5.36pm BST

Moeen leads the team off, his body language as modest as ever. He is a pretty adorable bloke, and a fine cricketer who has finally found the perfect role in this side. He ends with career-best figures in both the innings and the match: six for 59 and 10 for 112. And he cracked a crucial 87 in the first innings.

5.32pm BST

WICKET! South Africa 119 all out (Morkel c Jennings b Dawson 14) After hitting two sixes in three balls, Morkel drags Dawson to deep midwicket, where Jennings takes a fine catch. England have thrashed South Africa to go 1-0 up in the series!

5.30pm BST

England have beaten Australia by three runs in a World Cup classic at Bristol. Read all about it.

5.29pm BST

36th over: South Africa 107-9 (Philander 19, Morkel 2) Philander brings up the hundred - the team hundred - with a six, launching Moeen over wide long-on.

5.25pm BST

35th over: South Africa 94-9 (Philander 12, Morkel 0) A maiden from Dawson, who is a little unlucky to have only one wicket to Moeen’s six.

5.24pm BST

34th over: South Africa 94-9 (Philander 12, Morkel 0) If Moeen wants to complete the perfect all-round performance, he needs to get the last wicket with a run-out like Graham Gooch on this ground in 1990. That week he was asking himself ‘Who writes your scripts?’

5.20pm BST

Moeen completes the first ten-for of his Test career! Rabada top-edges a cut and is smartly held by Bairstow, and England are one wicket away. Moeen has six for 44 in the innings and ten for 103 in the match!

5.19pm BST

Never mind this game, there is a storming finish in the World Cup match between England and Australia at Bristol. Get on it this instant.

5.17pm BST

33rd over: South Africa 90-8 (Philander 12, Rabada 0) A full toss from Dawson receives an appropriate clonk from Philander, with the ball flying over deep midwicket for a one-bounce four.

In other news, here’s a slightly weird, essentially meaningless yet somehow thrilling statgasm: when England win this game, it will be the first time since 1999-2000 that the home side has led in an England/South Africa series.

5.14pm BST

32nd over: South Africa 84-8 (Philander 4, Rabada 0) “An interesting question arises as to whether Moeen would have bowled as well as this without Liam Dawson in the side,” says GARY NAYLOR. “As the only spinner, would he have forced the issue and, as seen so often on a helpful pitch, gone looking for the magic ball and been picked off? Alternatively, with Adil Rashid picked instead of Dawson, would Moeen have considered himself the junior partner and bowled with that status in mind? Conjecture of course, but there is a bit of Flintoff and Jones about how these two have complemented each other.”

I think you’re reaching, though I can see the point and only Moeen will know. I suspect the biggest factor is the coaching of Saqlain Mushtaq. Don’t forget Dawson was used first in the first innings, so maybe Moeen was the junior partner at the start of the game. One thing’s for sure: he’s not the junior partner now. He’s had an outstanding match.

5.10pm BST

Five wickets for Moeen! Maharaj belted a couple of boundaries down the ground before dragging an off-break back onto his stumps. That’s a lovely moment for one of the most likeable cricketers around, and there is real warmth in the applause of his teammates and those on the England balcony.

5.07pm BST

31st over: South Africa 74-7 (Philander 4, Maharaj 2) Dawson’s turns a peach past Philander’s outside edge. He has bowled beautifully this evening, albeit on a helpful surface, and deserves another wicket or two.

5.04pm BST

30th over: South Africa 74-7 (Philander 4, Maharaj 2) The last England spinner to take a ten-for at Lord’s was ‘Deadly’ Derek Underwood in 1974. Moeen needs two more.

5.00pm BST

Moeen’s magical match continues. That’s his eighth wicket, equalling his biggest haul in a Test match. It was a lovely bit of bowling. Theunis de Bruyn was surprised by some extra bounce and could only fend the ball straight to Stokes at slip.

4.59pm BST

29th over: South Africa 72-6 (de Bruyn 1, Philander 4) Dawson gets some extra bounce to hit Philander on his injured hand. He takes his hand off the bat quicksmart and wrings it in pain. The next Test starts at Trent Bridge on Friday.

“What another glorious advert this is for Test cricket, Rob,” says Guy Hornsby. “A pitch - TAKE NOTE CHAIRMEN - that does a bit for both bat and ball, plus a mixture of excellent bowling and daft batting meaning this could be over tonight, courtesy of our new demon spin duo*. Adil must be grinding his teeth. South Africa are doing a 90s England, collapsing like a beer snake after tea. Where’s Phil DeFreitas?

4.54pm BST

28th over: South Africa 71-6 (de Bruyn 0, Philander 4) Bavuma shapes to pull a short ball from Dawson and then aborts the shot as it get“Hi Rob,” says Niall Mullen. “I’m at Lord’s but have a train to catch from Kings X at 7pm. What do you think my chances are of seeing a result this evening?”

Yes, yes you will. You have my word.

4.52pm BST

Moeen Ali gets his seventh wicket of the match. Bavuma misses an almighty heave across the line, almost knocking himself off his feet, and the ball turns enough to clip the off bail. Bavuma played well, and should be the top scorer with 21, but deep down he knew it was a lost cause.

4.49pm BST

27th over: South Africa 65-5 (Bavuma 19, de Bruyn 0) Bavuma shapes to pull a short ball from Dawson and then aborts the shot as it gets extremely big on him. This pitch isn’t just turning square; it’s bouncing vertically. South Africa have no chance. As has been said already, they lost this game on the first day.

4.45pm BST

26th over: South Africa 64-5 (Bavuma 17, de Bruyn 0) That was the last ball of the over.

4.44pm BST

Wisden 2018 will say de Kock was bowled by Moeen Ali, and that’s all you need to know. It could have pitched middle and hit off, a jaffa to beat all jaffas. Or it might have been a long hop that de Kock smashed onto his right leg, from where it rebounded onto the stumps. A bonus wicket for Moeen. He won’t care.

4.41pm BST

There’s a cracking game going on at Bristol, where Australia need 91 from 61 balls to beat England in the Women’s World Cup. You can follow it with Adam Collins.

4.40pm BST

25th over: South Africa 63-4 (de Kock 18, Bavuma 17) de Kock inside-edges consecutive turners from Dawson, the first onto the pad and the second wide of leg stump, and then reverse-sweeps a couple.

4.37pm BST

24th over: South Africa 61-4 (de Kock 15, Bavuma 17) Bavuma, who has been really impressive in this match, sweeps Moeen decisively through square leg for four. South Africa look relatively comfortable for the first time since the dismissal of Kuhn.

4.33pm BST

23rd over: South Africa 54-4 (de Kock 15, Bavuma 11) Bavuma is beaten by another sharp turner from Dawson. That missed the bat by a mile, so extravagant was the spin.

4.30pm BST

22nd over: South Africa 54-4 (de Kock 15, Bavuma 11) That’s nice batting from de Kock, who cuts two short balls from Moeen for four with the minimum of fuss. He won’t die wondering; not in this innings, not in any innings. Moeen, having conceded four from his first seven overs, goes for 12 in his eighth.

4.27pm BST

21st over: South Africa 42-4 (de Kock 6, Bavuma 8) Bavuma puts a poor ball from Dawson away for four and then thick-edges a peach that drifts in and spits away off the pitch. It lands safely on the off side, well wide of Stokes at slip.

4.24pm BST

20th over: South Africa 38-4 (de Kock 6, Bavuma 4) Bavuma pulls his bat away from another nasty delivery that kicks to hit him on the elbow. Both de Kock and Bavuma look busy, and they are doing all the right things in terms of trying to counter-attack; it feels like an exercise in futility.

4.21pm BST

19th over: South Africa 37-4 (de Kock 6, Bavuma 3) Dawson is getting some lovely drift, which played a part in the wicket of Amla. In the Sky commentary box, Shane Warne sounds pretty impressed. de Kock continues to try to use his feet, yet all he can do when he gets to the ball is defend.

4.18pm BST

18th over: South Africa 34-4 (de Kock 6, Bavuma 0) Moeen skids a good delivery past de Kock’s outside edge. He responds by dancing down the track to consecutive deliveries; the first time he has to defend, the second he works for a single. Bavuma then misses an attempted sweep, with the ball beating Bairstow on its way for three byes. Batting is fiendishly difficult against the spinners. Imagine Murali on here!

4.14pm BST

17th over: South Africa 30-4 (de Kock 5, Bavuma 0) Bavuma mishits a nasty delivery from Dawson a few yards short of midwicket. This pitch is misbehaving a lot; with 34 overs remaining, the match will probably finish today. It’s a helluva chance for Liam Dawson to launch his Test career with a cheap four- or five-for.

4.10pm BST

16th over: South Africa 30-4 (de Kock 5, Bavuma 0) “Another smart catch from Ali to get of Duminy,” says Dean Kinsella. “Playing a true all-rounder’s role! Man of the Match performance in the making.”

He’s been great but I would give it to Root (or de Kock). His innings was the most important factor in the result.

4.08pm BST

15th over: South Africa 28-4 (de Kock 3, Bavuma 0) That was the last ball of the over.

Moeen and Dawson tripping off the tongue like Laker and Lock #ENGvSA

4.06pm BST

Liam Dawson strikes in his first over! I suspect he was brought on with de Kock in mind but it’s Amla he has dismissed. England won’t mind that one iota. It was a jaffa, drifting in from around the wicket and straightening sharply to hit the pad. Amla reviewed the decision but I think he knew he was out. Hawkeye showed it was hitting middle halfway up.

4.01pm BST

14th over: South Africa 25-3 (Amla 11, de Kock 0) Quinton de Kock has been promoted to No5. This is the big partnership, between the aforementioned geniuses. Surely the only way South Africa can win this is if de Kock homages Adam Gilchrist at Hobart in 1999. He has to counter-attack. First it’s Moeen to Amla, a testing over in which three deliveries go past the outside or inside edge.

3.58pm BST

Two odd batting line-ups.
England: 3 blockers, 3 dashers; only Root = both.
SA: 3 walking wickets in top 4; 2 geniuses; lower order pips top

3.40pm BST

The wicket means that’s the last ball before tea. England are well on top, with South Africa needing a further 306 to win.

3.39pm BST

Mark Wood comes into the attack. Duminy isn’t seeing it like a football, he’s timing it like one. He finally gets off the mark from his 15th delivery - and then falls to his 16th, clonking a pull straight to Moeen at midwicket. That’s a pretty poor shot, especially as it comes on the stroke of tea.

3.34pm BST

12th over: South Africa 22-2 (Amla 10, Duminy 0) Moeen skids one onto Duminy, who drags his bat down approximately 0.001 seconds before the ball hits him on the pad in front of off stump. This is excellent from Moeen, who is varying his flight and toying with Duminy. Another maiden, his third in a row.

3.31pm BST

11th over: South Africa 22-2 (Amla 10, Duminy 0) Amla drives Anderson just wide of the diving Stokes, placed deliberately at short cover. It goes for four but could easily have been another wicket. He gets another boundary later in the over with a bottom-handed flick off the pads.

3.26pm BST

10th over: South Africa 12-2 (Amla 0, Duminy 0) The new batsman is JP Duminy, to whom offspin is Kryptonite. He survives his first five deliveries comfortably enough.

3.24pm BST

Gone! Elgar skips down the track and drives straight back to Moeen Ali, who reacts smartly to take an excellent two-handed catch in front of his beard.

3.23pm BST

9th over: South Africa 12-1 (Elgar 2, Amla 0) Amla’s first delivery is a villainous lifter from Anderson that rams into his left wrist and lands safely on the off side. Amla did extremely well to ensure the ball went down rather than up. That’s not the first nasty delivery Jimmy has bowled in this match. At the age of 34, he’s turned into Patrick Patterson! Amla receives treatment, and is suitably unsettled that when he resumes his innings he almost drags a leaden-footed defensive stroke back onto the stumps. Terrific stuff from Anderson, who has figures of 5-2-6-1.

3.16pm BST

8th over: South Africa 12-1 (Elgar 2, Amla 0) Moeen Ali replaces Stuart Broad. He dismissed both these batsmen in the first innings, and his fifth delivery turns just enough to beat Elgar’s cautious poke. A good maiden from Moeen.

“Where Zen clashes with cricket,” begins Ian Copestake, “is that the sport is defined by having so many rules and it is thus within those tramlines that the student of Zen must work to find his special transmission outside the scriptures, as Bodihidarma might have said once or twice between deliveries.”

3.15pm BST

7th over: South Africa 12-1 (Elgar 2, Amla 0) That was a seriously good take from Bairstow, his second great catch of the match. You can see why he is so reluctant to give up the gloves, because he has worked like a dog to turn himself into a very good keeper.

3.13pm BST

Kuhn is strangled down the leg side. It was a beautiful low catch by Jonny Bairstow, diving a long way to his left, when Kuhn flicked at leg-stump delivery from Anderson.

3.11pm BST

6th over: South Africa 12-0 (Kuhn 9, Elgar 2) Broad is attacking the stumps, though we haven’t seen any uneven bounce and South Africa looked reasonably secure. I suspect Moeen Ali will be the first bowling change, maybe 20 minutes before tea.

3.04pm BST

5th over: South Africa 11-0 (Kuhn 8, Elgar 2) Elgar is seduced by a brilliant outswinger by Anderson. He knew he shouldn’t have been playing at it, but it was too late for his brain to inform his body and it zipped past the outside edge.

“Interesting stat,” says Gary Naylor. “I could have sworn Glenn McGrath had taken 289 wickets at Lord’s alone.”

3.00pm BST

4th over: South Africa 8-0 (Kuhn 7, Elgar 1) A good over from Broad, who made Elgar play at almost every delivery.

“A Zen approach is well-suited to some sports,” says John Starbuck. “Cricket, snooker, darts and perhaps tennis can make use of it in many respects, where being in the moment and extremely accurate are equally important.”

2.58pm BST

Dean Elgar has an LBW dismissal overturned on review. It was a strange one, in that Broad seemed to be strangling his appeal when S Ravi raised the finger. Elgar played around a straight one that hit him on the pad, but Hawkeye showed it would have bounced over the stumps.

2.53pm BST

3rd over: South Africa 8-0 (Kuhn 7, Elgar 1) Jimmy Anderson has taken 298 Test wickets in England. You won’t be surprised to hear nobody has taken 300; you might be surprised to hear that no fast bowler has taken 300 Test wickets in any country. The next best is Glenn McGrath with 289.

This has been a decent start for South Africa - nothing epiphany-inducing, but they have looked solid and comfortable against the new ball. Saying which, Kuhn tries to turn the last delivery to leg and gets a leading edge along the ground to backward point.

2.50pm BST

2nd over: South Africa 7-0 (Kuhn 7, Elgar 0) Stuart Broad should be a huge threat on this pitch, especially if he bowls full and straight like he did against Australia on a not dissimilar pitch at the Oval in 2009. Kuhn thick-edges a drive to third man for four in an otherwise uneventful over.

“Why was Mats (Philander) out there?” says Adam Roberts. “I am convinced the injury contributed to the drop, if only subconsciously. He was leading with his left hand as if protecting his right. Would it have affected his right to bat? Surely not.”

2.44pm BST

1st over: South Africa 3-0 (Kuhn 3, Elgar 0) Jimmy Anderson is about to bowl his first delivery when he realises he doesn’t like the ball, so he persuades the umpires to change it. Sometimes the great workmen blame their tools too. This might be the first time in Test history that the first over has been bowled with the second new ball. It looks a good one, from an England perspective, because it’s swinging. Heino Kuhn is beaten by a gorgeous outswinger and then times a nice drive through extra cover for three.

“There is something Zen about Jimmy’s approach to bowling,” says Ian Copestake. “The way he was feeling up those balls especially. Made me love him a bit more.”

2.38pm BST

Hello folks. South Africa were pretty brilliant with the ball this morning; they’ll need to be even better with the bat to win the game. Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock are the key wickets for England.

2.34pm BST

Anyhow, Rob Smyth will be here presently to guide you through their successful chase; email him at rob.smyth@theguardian.com.

2.32pm BST

South Africa were brilliant this morning, but it wasn’t enough; they they weren’t perfect and they needed to be. Philander catches Bairstow, they’re right in this; they’re still in this, but 331 on this pitch will take monumentally good batting and outstandingly bad bowling. Really, this Test went with the missed chances on day 1, ground in by tail-end runs on day 2.

2.30pm BST

Bairstow tries another slog-sweep, misses, and pretty much walks when the bails fall. South Africa need 331 to win!

2.29pm BST

86th over: England 233-9 (Bairstow 51, Anderson 0) A short pull to square-leg or so sees Bairstow jazz through for two; that’s his fifty, and a valuable one it’s been; for this, he earns a handshake from Jimmy Anderson. Meanwhile, on the balcony, Joe Root is giggling; Vernon Philander probably isn’t.

2.24pm BST

85th over: England 230-9 (Bairstow 48, Anderson 0) After three dots, Bairstow tries a slog-sweep at Maharaj; the spin takes the ball past his off stump. Then, before the final ball, Elgar brings everyone in to make sure Anderson has strike; again, Bairstow sweeps, and only goes and gets three. That is very funny indeed.

2.20pm BST

84th over: England 227-9 (Bairstow 45, Anderson 0) The way Wood just loves being out there is such a pleasure to watch; it’s as though anything that happens in the match, good or bad, is brilliant because Look! I’m literally playing a Test match! Isn’t that the best! Yes it is! Anyway, the Burnley Lara is good to go and he faces down four dot balls.

2.16pm BST

Isaac Vivian Alexander Wood tires a pull but the ball’s too full for that and clatter his off peg. He might just have sealed the match for England, but.

2.13pm BST

84th over: England 227-8 (Bairstow 45, Wood 28) Rabada is warming up, so presumably the new ball is imminent. Wood, meanwhile, is curating an expert’s innings, making room to hit through cover and then driving to long-off; each gains two.

2.11pm BST

83rd over: England 220-8 (Bairstow 43, Wood 23) Are tail-end runs even more amusing than a player being hit in the dress circle? Same thing really and there are four more of them, Wood helping another on its way around the corner to Morne’s chagrin. And he’s no more amused when two more are miscued over the infield, then a single played down into the off side. Eight off the over, 317 the lead, and England haver found another use for that carrot they offered South Africa in the morning session.

2.05pm BST

82nd over: England 212-8 (Bairstow 42, Wood 16) Wood is enjoying this, and tonks Maharaj for four through midwicket. I doubt Philander is feeling good right now; if he’d caught Bairstow this would already be done.

2.03pm BST

81st over: England 208-8 (Bairstow 42, Wood 12) New ball is due, but South Africa don’t take it for now; they could finish the innings, or they could leak runs. Bairstow isn’t arsed either way, using the pace from Morkel’s final delivery to ramp four.

1.58pm BST

80th over: England 200-8 (Bairstow 35, Wood 11) Wood plays out a maiden, until he doesn’t; Maharaj’s last ball is wide, and he has a good look at it then wallops a square-drive for four. Lovely shot.

1.55pm BST

79th over: England 196-8 (Bairstow 35, Wood 7) Some patter between Morkel and Bairstow, perhaps because the latter is running over the pitch, perhaps because the former was in the road. Naturally, Bairstow finds it hilarious, all the more so when he goes to cut and bottom-edges, just missing his stumps in favour of adding four instead.

1.51pm BST

78th over: England 190-7 (Bairstow 30, Wood 6) Bairstow knocks to long off and they amble a single, then Wood mows one over the top of midwicket ... Duminy is in pursuit and hurls himself at it as the ball drops, but finishes just short.

“Please remind us why Rashid was dropped for Dawson,” emails Dean Kinsella. “Would love to have seen Rash bowl in this 4th innings. Still think England have this in the bag though!”

1.47pm BST

77th over: England 187-8 (Bairstow 29, Wood 4) Bairstow takes a single, and then Wood enjoys one sliding across his pads; he helps it around the corner to finest leg, thereby getting off the mark with a four. Morkel gets a modicum of revenge last ball, firing one in at the toes that makes Wood dance like an unfortunate cowboy; naturally, he find sit all very funny.

“Yesterday’s tea-time OBO was kind enough to indulge (nay welcome) some shameless fraternal promotion of my cricket-loving brother’s previously-neglected back-garden cocktail shack-themed blog,” emails Brian Withington hyphenetically.” To commemorate the Guardian’s generosity, a glorious Lord’s Test against SA, and his hit score now exceeding 10,000 (and catching Cook fast), John has crafted a cocktail of the day, the “Basil Dolly”. It is described as a “fruity, herbal simple return catch of a recipe for a warm Summer’s afternoon”. The method culminates fittingly with the coaching of “stir like a wristy late cut and add a tiny flourish of a leg-glance with a strawberry and some basil”.

1.42pm BST

Morne Morkel, who led this morning’s rout, has the ball...

1.41pm BST

Here they come...

1.37pm BST

Right then, beat that.

1.06pm BST

What a morning that was! In particular, Morkel and Maharaj were superb, taking full advantage of the doubt etched in the batsmen’s minds as soon as the second ball of the day shot off a crack. The afternoon session is set to be another belter, and potentially definitive; see you in roundabout 35.

1.02pm BST

76th over: England 182-7 (Bairstow 28, Wood 0) 25 overs this morning, 63 runs, seven wickets; lovely, lovely stuff. England lead by 279, and whatever happens, this is not going to be a draw. WinViz has England overwhelming favourites, 82% chance of winning, but one serious knock is all it’ll take to make that look silly. Lunch, 279 the lead.

1.00pm BST

What a catch this is! It’s golden duck for Broad! He turns Maharaj around the corner with the full face, only for De Bruyn, at short-leg, to snatch a fantastic snaffle! For the third year in a row, England have collapsed at Lord’s on day 4.

12.58pm BST

76th over: England 182-7 (Bairstow 28, Broad 0) This has been such a Test, and one set-up, to significant extent, by Stuart Broad’s fifty in the first innings. Er...

12.54pm BST

It’s a pair! Of second-ballers! Rabada tanks in and humps a full-toss that bowls Dawson all over the show! There’s a brief break while the unpires check it was below waist-height; it was, and what a morning this has been!

12.53pm BST

75th over: England 181-6 (Bairstow 27, Dawson 0) Dawson is on a pair here and Rabada will fancy the cut of his jib. But he’s got Bairstow on strike for four balls, before a inside-edge cannons the pads and they run one.

12.48pm BST

Maharaj diddles Ali in the flight here, bowling a little slower such that when the batsman skips down, he can’t react when the ball spins, nipping dips and between bat and pad to rattle the timber. England have lost five for 61 today.

12.47pm BST

74th over: England 180-5 (Bairstow 26, Ali 7) Bairstow leans away as Maharaj drops a tad short, opening up the off side and pounding the ball through it; four. And then, after a dot, he wallops over mid on for four more, then sweeps to square leg as the camera picks out a miffed-looking Vern; he then fields successfully and the crowd cheer him ironically.

12.43pm BST

73rd over: England 167-5 (Bairstow 13, Ali 7) South Africa have been sloppy this Test; wicket-taking no-balls and vital dropped catches are going to cost them the match by the look of things. Four singles, and England are starting to up the rate again.

DROPPED! Philander shells Bairstow on seven, at wide long off. Ball goes for four. #EngvSA https://t.co/gbyDT4AlQu pic.twitter.com/mTeQRpHnY8

12.40pm BST

72nd over: England 163-5 (Bairstow 11, Ali 5) Oh mate! Ohhhhhh maaaaaaate! Ohhhhhh! Mate! Maharaj spins one away from Bairstow who chucks hands anyway, looking to go over extra cover. But Philander, underneath it at long off, watches the ball all the way into his hands, then lets it pass through them before making a Frankie Howerd face and blaming something in the sky, whether spidercam, cloud or deity, and definitely not himself. Four to the total, five off the over.

12.36pm BST

71st over: England 158-5 (Bairstow 7, Ali 4) Moeen takes one into the off side and then Bairstow forces away to backward point; they run two. The pressure has eased slightly these last few overs but then Rabada rushes one low past Bairstow; so low that he grins, bug-eyed, after following-through. The leads is 255.

Highest winning 4th innings chases at Lord's:
WI 344-1 v Eng, 1984
Eng 282-3 v NZ, 2004
Eng 218-3 v NZ, 1965
Eng 193-5 v WI, 2012

12.31pm BST

70th over: England 155-5 (Bairstow 5, Ali 3) Single to Moeen, via the increasingly popular sweep, and then Bairstow gets down on one knee to do likewise; he misses entirely. One off the over.

12.27pm BST

69th over: England 154-5 (Bairstow 5, Ali 2) I wonder if Elgar is thinking about a quick turn for Morkel against Moeen before he gets comfy. In the meantime, Rabada, from around, beats him with one that pitches and moves away off the seam. But in general, the bowlers are keeping more balls on the stumps than earlier in the match, as you’d expect given those cracks.

12.23pm BST

68th over: England 149-5 ( Bairstow 4, Ali 1) What a ridiculous pleasure it is to watch cricket of this ilk; great bowling, a sporting pitch, and runs hard to come by. Nothing; nothing; can compare to this. Three singles from Maharaj’s latest over and I literally cannot wait for the next one.

12.20pm BST

67th over: England 149-5 (Bairstow 2, Ali 0) 39 deliveries, four wickets, ten runs; this morning, South Africa were thinking about keeping Cook and Ballance in to ensure a slow scoring rate; now, they’re thinking victory. This has been a great morning of “Test-match cricket”TM.

12.18pm BST

This is going to finish today isn’t it? Rabada comes around and his first ball keeps low, scuttling on; Stokes walks, more or less, while Elgar clamps a hand over the bowler’s mouth and he puts a finger to his lips. Ungentlemanly conduct, in my opinion; BAN BAN BAN.

12.16pm BST

66th over: England 149-4 (Bairstow 2, Stokes 1) Rabada on for Morkel, who has taken two wickets in seven overs for not many runs. Rabada is just so beautiful to watch, floating in with malice aforethought.

12.13pm BST

65th over: England 148-4 (Bairstow 1, Stokes 1) Tight from Maharaj, giving Stokes very little space in which to play. He manages a single, and Bairstow does likewise.

“Excellent decision to go with the astroturf option,” says Brian Withington of my mid-life crisis. “However, be prepared for some derision. The precocious youngest (9 year old) of visiting friends described it in appalled terms as a ‘travesty of grass’. He went on to win University Challenge for Peterhouse last year, so I guess he knew what he was on about.

12.09pm BST

64th over: England 146-4 (Bairstow 0, Stokes 0) So South Africa are still in this, even if it’d take a monumental effort to win from here simply chasing the deficit of 243. Another maiden from Morkel.

“I’ve heard that it takes you back to being held as a baby so it’s a comfort reflex,” Robert Taylor says of the head in hands thing. “Never double-checked that so don’t quote me on that”; sorry.

12.04pm BST

South Africa are on a roll! Feart of the cracks and accordant spin, Root is late on one that goes with arm, shuffling back and dangling rather than presenting the bat. The ball runs off the face, into the stumps, and that’s three wickets for seven runs in four overs.

12.02pm BST

64th over: England 146-3 (Root 5, Bairstow 0) Maharaj hits one of Morkel’s footholes, sending the ball to slip; so Root clump-sweeps the next one hard to square-leg. Immediately Elgar, whose fields have been excellent this morning - men in front of the wicket - sends the man who was short onto the fence.

11.59am BST

63rd over: England 142-3 (Root 1, Bairstow 0) So, two new batsmen and two right-handers; Maharaj will fancy that. But in the meantime, Morkel is in rhythm, and it’s a beautiful thing.

11.57am BST

A terrific ball to cap a terrific spell. Jagging one in from around the wicket, Morkel persuades Ballance that he needs to play, and he duly fences to guide the ball behind.

11.55am BST

63rd over: England 142-2 (Ballance 34, Root 1) Morne has his head in his hands as Root edges a drive; vis-a-vis that, a question: why do we put our heads in our hands when bad stuff happens? Is it instinct or learned? Who was the first person to do it, and why? Anyway, good though this bowling is, when might England step on it? And how many runs do they actually need? Another 30?

11.51am BST

62nd over: England 141-2 (Ballance 34, Root 0) Maharaj into the attack, and with the field ad line telling Ballance he can’t drive, he shuffles down and shovels one from outside off over the top towards midwicket; it’s stopped on the fence and nabs him two, the only runs from the over.

WATCH! Cook drives to Bavuma at cover! Live on Sky Sports 2 - Brought to you by @FostersUK. https://t.co/gSOieoCidr https://t.co/v3YJ0uWyaB

11.47am BST

61st over: England 139-2 (Ballance 32, Root 0) Rich reward for Morkel; Root is on strike and charges at his first ball before leaving it. In commentary, meanwhile, Warne gives Atherton a dig for saying an unsuspecting bloke in the crowd, upon whom the camera lingered, looked like him. That’s nice of them. Excellent over.

11.44am BST

Cook drives hard but leaning back a tad, and it’s enough; Bavuma, at wide mid-off, tumbles to make a smart catch look routine.

11.43am BST

61st over: England 138-1 (Cook 69, Ballance 32) David Gower points out that Morkel coming around the wicket is preparing rough for England’s spinner. Anyway...

11.41am BST

60th over: England 138-1 (Cook 69, Ballance 31) Cook flicks Philander off his pads for a single; Philander is bowling straighter now, effectively at the cracks, with an extra man on the on side. Ballance finds the one at deep square, and they jog another single.

“If Mr Salmon moved with the times he could forget about mowing the lawn for ever,” advises John Starbuck, “either by turning it into a wildlife meadow or by ripping out all the grass and using colourful gravels instead. One of my major life decisions was deciding to do the latter and it’s saved me no end of bother and perspiration.”

11.35am BST

59th over: England 136-1 (Cook 68, Ballance 30) Morkel still going and Ballance eases into a drive towards long off that gets three then, full of beans, swings and misses at another.

“How many runs does Ballance need to score today to start changing peoples minds about him?” tweets Matt Potter.

11.32am BST

58th over: England 132-1 (Cook 67, Ballance 27) Philander is also around to Cook now, and he’s tight enough. The problem is that he’ll tire, so will Morkel, and if England have wickets in hand, South Africa are in allsorts. Maiden.

“As this game keeps moving towards the inevitable, I’m having some trouble justifying to myself and others spending the whole of a beautiful Sunday following it,” beseeches Peter Salmon. “It would really help if there were any personal milestones coming up that I can’t afford to miss – Moeen becoming the second fastest to the 2000/100 double would have worked a treat. I’ll take anything – Cook moving up to third most runs at Lords; Ballance, Root and Bairstow scoring most runs in a test by Yorkshiremen against South Africa etc. At the moment all I’ve got is Vernon Philander needing seven wickets to overtake Toey Tayfield and move to seventh on the table of South African wicket-takers, and it just doesn’t seem enough to get me out of mowing the lawn.”

11.27am BST

57th over: England 132-1 (Cook 67, Ballance 27) Morkel persuades Ballance to waft at one outside off; it holds up and seams away past the edge. So Ballance has another go, dragging into the ground, and that’s the end of another tight over, one from it.

11.23am BST

56th over: England 131-1 (Cook 66, Ballance 27) Warne wants a bat-pad man, given the up-and-down bounce, and that such a man might make the batsman think about what might go wrong; “best way to stop the runs is take wickets”. In the meantime, Cook is down the pitch to Philander and presents the full face, but whoever is at mid-on saves a boundary with a diving stop. One from the over, and South Africa badly need some wickets.

11.19am BST

55th over: England 130-1 (Cook 65, Ballance 27) Morne - is it Mornay or Morknee, please? - comes around to Cook. I guess the trepidation is that the angle might feed yerman’s array of square-cuts, square-cuts and square-cuts.

On Steyn, Chris Weston says: “If comparing with Curtly and Wasim, then Hadlee has to be in the picture. But were any of them really contemporaries of his?’

11.13am BST

54th over: England 129-1 (Cook 64, Ballance 27) Philander strays straight to Ballance, who helps it around the corner; Morkel does his best, lanking around the boundary and diving like collapsed deckchair, but it’s still four. They’re the only runs from the over.

11.09am BST

53rd over: England 125-1 (Cook 64, Ballance 23) If Morne can find the cracks, things could get very unpleasant; but first he gets a grubber, and immediately Beefy is advising him to come around to Cook. That sounds like a pleasant Sunday’s morning’s choiristering. Instead, he gives Cook a short, wide one, and out comes that square-cut; first boundary of the morning.

“Dale Steyn? Given his record in India, just behind Glenn McGrath, on a level with Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose,” tweets Gary Naylor.

11.05am BST

52nd over: England 121-1 (Cook 60, Ballance 23) Beefy reckons the pitch is a) a proper cricket wicket and b) so dry and cracked that something has to happen, and Philander is on the money immediately; Ballance crouches and gets it away for one to leg. Two balls later, the prophecy comes true - a crack is contacted and the ball shoots off pass leg stump. Get that off a straight one, and it’s goodnight. Anyway, Cook then turns away a single before Philander persuades one to leap off a length; another crack. England’s bowlers will be rubbing their hands.

10.59am BST

Vernon has the ball...

...good.

10.59am BST

Out come the players...

10.59am BST

Back to Dale Steyn, where are we ranking him in our list of contemporary bowlers? Better than Anderson, not quite as good as Asif?

10.55am BST

Hurray! Good news! Luke Fletcher is set to be released from hospital.

10.54am BST

Naylor is back: “The one they’re missing today is Imran Tahir,” he reckons.

I can see that, but if you gave me a choice I’d take Steyn every time.

10.52am BST

“Quinton de Kock must bat at 4 asap,” tweets Gary Naylon, “where he could be an all-time great - he really is that talented. Surely someone else can keep?”

I wonder. He’s got an amazing eye and and amazing power, that’s for sure, but I’d want to be certain he had the dexterity and consistency before using a less good keeper. I’d also want to be confident in the balance of my team before relieving myself of an all-rounder.

10.49am BST

Email! “This test has been entertaining so far,” emails Robert Taylor, “but it is a crying shame that in this series South Africa may be missing, for various reasons and at various times, De Villiers, Du Plessis, Steyn, Philander, Abbott, Harmer, Roussouw, Rabada, Van Zyl and Viljoen.

As has been highlighted in the media, this series has in the last 20 years been fiercely competitive and dramatic and so to see South Africa struggling with getting some of their best players on the pitch is distressing. Don’t want to see them go the way of the Windies.”

10.43am BST

But really, this is all window-dressing; the old Warner was home to the finest toilets ever crafted in the history of the world.

Finest toilet on the planet bar none. pic.twitter.com/GWHLBIfk

10.37am BST

Sky are now chatting us through the development of the Warner Stand which, from my vantage point in the Compton Upper, looks nice but makes wanton vitamin D acquisition harder. Understand more about it and the accordant issues by reading the great Matthew Engel.

10.35am BST

Other great Sundays at Lord’s: 2008, during which South Africa compiled 229-1, featuring crowd-pleasing tons for Smith and McKenzie, with Amla getting underway too. Put your hand up if you sat through that with dad-slaking restrictions in place.

10.31am BST

On Sky, Ian Ward is asking Russell Domingo if Quinton de Kock can move up the order; tricky, given a young keeper, he dead-bats. He’s then pretty diplomatic about the binning of Kagiso Rabada for a Test, but the subtext appears fairly clear: people who aren’t Kagiso Rabada need to grow up.

10.26am BST

The 2012 battle for the Basil is among the best ever played in this country. The two best sides in the world - driven, skilled, brilliantly vicious sides - fought like junkyard dogs to deliver a sustaining scrap of unbridled intensity.

That contest - criminally, staged over just three matches, hate criminally the last between the sides until 2016 - ended at Lord’s, and was more or less the perfect Test. Fair-to-middling scores on account of superb bowling, serious batting was still rewarded and the serious was finally settled with the eventual squashing of an improbable chase on the final afternoon. Ahhhhhhhhh.

12.41pm BST

Daniel will be here shortly.

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