On Day 2 of the first Test at Lord's, South Africa built a 124-run lead over England thanks to an 85-run partnership between captain Dean Elgar and Sarel Erwee and a middle order comeback by Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj.
The South Africa skipper Elgar and Erwee produced patient innings of 47 and 73 respectively to give the visitors a strong start on Day 2 after bowling out the hosts for a pitiful 165 in just 45 overs in the first session. Jansen and Maharaj built on it with similar scores of 41 each.
Earlier, South Africa quickly finished off England's batting in the first session, needing only 49 runs to get rid of the final four wickets. Ollie Pope, the only known batter, was taken out for 73 by Kagiso Rabada in the fifth over of the day. Pope was coerced into making a wide delivery, which was then hacked onto the stumps. In his subsequent over, the pacer struck Stuart Broad with a slower ball, sending it directly into the clutches of Dean Elgar at point.
Jack Leach's brief, entertaining innings, which featured three boundaries, was ended by Marco Jansen before Rabada caught James Anderson for a duck in front of the wickets to complete his five-for and reduce England to 165 for loss.
The opening pair for South Africa cautiously batted out the final 12 overs of the morning session to reach lunch unharmed at 27/0. On a pitch that had begun to relax and improve for batting, the tourists came out much more aggressively, scoring boundaries.
England needed good fortune to go their way to break the partnership because both batsmen were set. The South African skipper could only watch in agony as the ball trickled onto the stumps after James Anderson's delivery hit Elgar's thigh pad onto the forearm.
Sarel Erwee picked up a patient fifty at the other end, keeping South Africa's momentum going despite Elgar missing out on his fifty by three runs.
The South African team lost focus during the tea break, allowing Aiden Markram to nick the ball to the wicketkeeper with a careless shot in the second over of the session. In addition, Ben Stokes' choice to enter the game paid off as he took two wickets in two overs, including that of Erwee for 73. As England maintained the pressure with some tight bowling, the Proteas found it difficult to string together partnerships. Kyle Verreynne was taken out by Stuart Broad in his second over after returning to the attack, giving him a wicket.
At 210/6, South Africa was in trouble despite having the lead. Keshav Maharaj and Marco Jansen, however, milked boundaries to increase the lead as the England bowlers grew weary from a long day on the field. On the stroke of stumps, Maharaj's wicket ended the seventh wicket stand worth 72 runs, but the visitors still had a comfortable advantage of 124 runs at the end of the day.
Brief scores: England 1st innings 165 in 45 overs (Ollie Robinson 73; Kagiso Rabada 5/52, Anrich Nortje 3/63) vs South Africa 289/7 in 77 overs (Dean Elgar 47, Sarel Erwee 73, Marco Jansen 41 not out, Keshav Maharaj 41).