Alastair Cook's unbeaten half-century puts England in command at Lord's

Sport360 staff 22:00 08/07/2017
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  • Alastair Cook

    England have put themselves in a commanding position at stumps on day three at Lord’s. The hosts bowled out South Africa for 361 with Moeen Ali the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-59, before closing play on 119-1 – a 216-run lead.

    For Alastair Cook, he scored an unbeaten 59 but had luck on his side after surviving two lbw reviews early in his innings. It meant that Cook crossed the 1,000-run mark against South Africa in just his 30th innings.

    Keaton Jennings (33) would have been run out for nought, had Heino Kuhn managed a direct hit at the stumps from cover.

    For South Africa, they had to do without their key seamer Vernon Philander who suffered severe bruising to his bowling hand while batting following a delivery from James Anderson en-route to his 52.

    His absence was a big blow for the tourists with no Dale Steyn or Kyle Abbott to call on before the tour, while Kasigo Rabada is ruled out of the second Test in Nottingham due to suspension.

    There was a positive note for Quinton de Kock, whose 36-ball 50 was the second-quickest ever-made in a Lord’s Test. Kapil Dev holds that record after reaching the milestone from 35 deliveries in 1982.

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