England won the toss and decided to bat against South Africa
02:14
Returning Rabada could make SA ‘unstoppable’
England fielded three debutants against South Africa at The Oval as they opted to bolster their batting in an effort to put their horrors in the Trent Bridge Test behind them.
Accusations of lack of pride had not been well received in the England camp, but charges of irresponsibility and an inability to adapt to conditions were easier to level.
The outcome was the inclusion of Tom Westley at No. 3, replacing the injured Gary Ballance, along with Dawid Malan, in preference the spin-bowling allrounder Liam Dawson, at five, meaning that Jonny Bairstow reverted to No. 7 with Moeen Ali at eight as England attempted to disguise the vulnerability of their stroke-playing middle-order by depth.
Toby Roland-Jones, the strong-willed Middlesex seamer, replaced Mark Wood, whose frailty had predictably been exposed by the rigours of back-to-back Tests.
Joe Root chose to put that batting order under immediate pressure on an overcast Lonndon morning and there was reason to anticipate an awkward introduction. “It looks a little bit green but it is generally a very good wicket here,” Root said. “We have gone with the extra batting option after looking at the wicket.”
His South African opposite number, Faf du Plessis said the overcast conditions would have made him unsure about his choice. One thing he was certain about, though, was his pleasure at the return of Kagiso Rabada after a one-match suspension under the totting-up procedure.
“I’m very happy to have him back and I’m sure he will be very hungry in this performance,” du Plessis said.
The series sits 1-1 at halfway. A dominant England at Lord’s turned into a dominated England at Trent Bridge. Few were confident enough to predict how The Oval would turn out.
England 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Keaton Jennings, 3 Tom Westley, 4 Joe Root (capt), 5 Dawid Malan, 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Jonny Bairstow, 8 Moeen Ali, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Toby Roland-Jones, 11 James Anderson
South Africa 1 Dean Elgar, 2 Heino Kuhn, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Quinton de Kock (wk), 5 Faf du Plessis (capt), 6 Temba Bavuma, 7 Vernon Philander, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Morne Morkel
David Hopps is a general editor at ESPNcricinfo @davidkhopps
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo