Stuart Broad has called for England to eliminate the mistakes, as they go into the third day of the first Test against South Africa with the match evenly poised.
Broad, leading the attack in the absence of the injured Jimmy Anderson, claimed three for 16 in 10 overs – including the key wicket of AB de Villiers – as the world’s No1 side reached 137 for four at the close on the second day, still 166 runs behind Alastair Cook’s tourists.
Despite those inroads into South Africa’s batting lineup, England were left ruing their failure to review a declined lbw shout against Dean Elgar when he was trapped in front by Ben Stokes on 56. The opener resumes unbeaten on 67 and Broad admitted after stumps that his side had made an error.
“The Test is even, I think,” said Broad. “The first hour is going to be crucial, we’ve got to aim for a first-innings lead, but that’s going to be hard work. We just want to focus on that first hour and if we can get two or three breakthroughs, and bat after lunch, the game is there for us.”
Asked about Elgar’s reprieve, Broad added: “The review is all our fault. We thought he hit the ball and that’s why we didn’t review it. But people make mistakes and that is part and parcel of the game.”
The lbw shout against Elgar was not the only chance missed. Hashim Amla saw a faint nick off the bat not reviewed when he had scored one run, before Jonny Bairstow dropped him the following over. Neither proved costly, however, with the South Africa captain eventually caught behind off Broad for seven.
Broad added: “We have left a couple of wickets out there. We are trying to work on taking all our chances, not having to take 25 wickets in a Test.”
The 29-year-old’s removal of De Villiers could yet prove most pivotal, with the right-hander caught behind on 49 at the point when he was starting to well and truly purr. It left South Africa 100 for three before Moeen Ali, the bowler he had been tormenting, bowled Faf du Plessis for two.
“AB was taking the game away from us slightly,” Broad said. “He has got that ability to hit good balls for four and score very, very quickly. We came up with a plan to try and frustrate him with the field while encouraging him to play his shots because that is a way to get out players of that calibre.”
