Summary

  • Root stumped on 149 off a no-ball; also dropped on 16

  • Skipper shares in big stands with Moeen (61*) & Stokes (56)

  • Three wickets for Philander

  • England won toss; first of four-match series

Live Reporting

Jamie Lillywhite

  1. Get Involved

    #bbccricket

    James Shepherd: Morris not playing for South Africa is a travesty. Comfortably one of their most dangerous players in all 3 aspects of the game.

  2. Michael Vaughan
    Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

    Joe Root loves the game. He's a cricket nut - he has been since the age of two. His family are the same; that's all they talk about 24 hours a day. I imagine the England lads will be at dinner tonight asking him to change the subject and talk about something else, like Love Island.

  3. Ten-minute warning. Pads being strapped on (where's my thigh pad!?!), lucky seat being warmed, kettle on.

  4. Henry Moeran
    BBC Test Match Special

    The last time this vision will signal the start of the Test summer! Blowers is looking magnificent at Lord's.

    Henry Blofeld

  5. Get Involved

    tms@bbc.co.uk

    My bosses are all French so thankfully they have no idea what is going on. The scoreboard looks like some sort of impressive KPI metric I'm working on.

    Freddie House

  6. Michael Vaughan
    Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

    I feel for Gary Ballance. He doesn't bat at three for Yorkshire or the Lions. Why didn't they let him bat at three for the Lions against South Africa last week?

  7. Apparently Joe Root had a pound coin in his pocket at the toss just in case a flicking instrument wasn't provided. He said he didn't want to look like a tight Yorkshireman.

    It's odd for an England captain to be starting a reign by playing South Africa, rather than having one ended. Hussain, Vaughan and Strauss were all ended by Graeme Smith. Englishmen will be pleased that he's in the TMS box, rather than playing.

  8. Michael Vaughan
    Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

    I look at this England team and think that if Rabada gets it right this morning, the batting might look a little fragile. I would have packed the batting. That's what has been England's problem in the last year - collapses.

  9. Get Involved

    #bbccricket

    Bowser: Test cricket is back. What an absolutely sensational time to be alive.

  10. Ah, yes. That old problem of following the cricket while convincing the boss/teacher that you're not doing anything you shouldn't be. Have you got the live text minimised at the bottom of your screen? A headphone wire fed up the sleeve of your blazer at the back of double maths?

  11. Get Involved

    tms@bbc.co.uk

    To celebrate the beginning of the first Test, I’ve had another PC screen installed at work. Solely for the BBC Live reporting. Happy Days!

    Steven Watson

  12. Jake Cope
    Forecaster, BBC Weather Centre

    The tactics for the first day of a Test match are always important and that’s never truer than if you’re the weather forecaster (or captain, I suppose).

    Today we’ve got an area of thunderstorms to the south of London and another area of thunderstorms developing to the north. It looks like both potential problems should skip past unnoticed but there is the risk of disruption through the mid-afternoon.

    It’s going to be hot and humid, that much I am sure of, with temperatures hitting 30 or 31 Celsius and with little wind it could be a long day in the field if the showers miss the Home of Cricket.

  13. Some interesting team news from the South Africa camp. Chris Morris, a white-ball assassin, misses out. Theunis de Bruyn, an all-rounder, bats at six. Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada form a formidable pace attack.

  14. South Africa captain Dean Elgar: "It looks a good wicket, and we'd like to have batted first but if there's any moisture first up we'll look to find it."

  15. Root just about choked those words out. His voice was wobbly. Nerves? Emotion? Can't blame him. Can you imagine what it must feel like to walk down the steps at Lord's in your first Test as England captain?

  16. England captain Joe Root: "It's going to be a good wicket, the sun is out and with it being dry it might deteriorate later in the game. I had a big say in this team and I'm excited to get going now."

  17. England win the toss and bat

    If he carries on like this, he'll do just fine. Then again, there's not much he can do when the other skipper is calling. Dean Elgar asks for heads, it comes down tails. A very, very nervous Joe Root says his team will bat first. A no-brainer really. The sun is out and the deck looks a belter.

  18. Right then, Joe Root's first big job coming up. Has he been practising flicking the coin?

  19. Tom Fordyce
    Chief sports writer at Lord's

    Doozy of a day to open the Test summer, warm sun and acres of blue sky. Anticipation in the air too: after five months of waiting, Joe Root finally gets to lead England out. No better place to do it, no greater honour for an England man.

  20. BBC Test Match Special

    Test match cricket means Test Match Special. Basically the soundtrack of the summer. In the garden, in the car, a sneaky headphone during the wedding of that cousin you don't really like and you're not entirely sure why you're there. On air now, on the wireless and overseas.

    When play begins, we'll have video highlights as they happen.