South Africa captain Graeme Smith won the toss and elected to bat against England in the third and final Test at Lord's here on Thursday. England made two changes from the side that drew the second Test at Headingley. Kevin Pietersen, dropped for sending "provocative texts" to South African players despite making 149 in Leeds, was replaced by Jonathan Bairstow -- appearing in only his fourth Test. And off-spinner Graeme Swann returned in place of Tim Bresnan after England opted for an all seam attack at Headingley. South Africa, 1-0 up in this three-match series, were unchanged for a fixture where they only needed to avoid defeat to replace England as the world's number one ranked Test side. Smith was appearing in an all-time record 94th Test as captain, overtaking the mark of 93 Tests as skipper set by Australia great Allan Border. Meanwhile this match marked England captain Andrew Strauss's 100th Test and 50th as captain, the Middlesex batsman bringing up his century of appearances on his Lord's home ground where he made his England debut in 2004. England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, James Taylor, Jonathan Bairstow, Matt Prior (wkt), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Steven Finn, James Anderson South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers (wkt), Jacques Rudolph, JP Duminy, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir
GMT 18:30 2017 Tuesday ,26 December
FIFA trial: New York jury acquits former Peru soccer bossGMT 13:18 2017 Tuesday ,26 December
Early drama as Sydney to Hobart fleet race to break recordGMT 20:25 2017 Monday ,25 December
Klopp urges Liverpool to focus on Euro ambitionsGMT 18:35 2017 Monday ,25 December
Mutko suspends Russian football role to fight Olympic lifetime banGMT 10:11 2017 Monday ,25 December
Federer, Nadal shine as rivals hobble into 2018GMT 19:22 2017 Sunday ,24 December
Southampton's Austin charged with violent conductGMT 18:02 2017 Sunday ,24 December
'Tongan Bear' Uhila extends Clermont contractGMT 17:07 2017 Sunday ,24 December
Serena Williams to make competitive return in Abu Dhabi next week
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor