"Serial slip catch giver surfaces again" - Twitter roasts Zak Crawley after another failure in Lord's Test against South Africa

Zak Crawley's woes as a Test opener reached another abyss as he perished for nine runs in the Lord's Test against South Africa on Wednesday (August 17). This comes on the back of repeated failures at the top of the order for the Kent opener.

Having seen fellow opening partner Alex Lees nick behind to Kyle Verreynne off Kagiso Rabada, Crawley took a bit of time to assess the conditions. He even struck a firm on-drive off Lungi Ngidi, suggesting that he was up for a scrap after England were asked to bat first by the visitors.

However, it didn't take Rabada too long to induce his outside edge, with Aiden Markram snaffling a good low catch at second slip. If anything, it was archetypal of what has become a pattern associated with the right-handed opener, whose issues outside the off-stump have resurfaced again.

Despite his first-class batting average dipping below 30, Crawley has been backed by the England team management. The Twitterati didn't hold back after he failed again and had plenty to say about the same.

England lose Root and Bairstow on either side of the drinks break

South Africa's captain Dean Elgar opted to bowl first under the overcast conditions at Lord's and the move paid dividends. After Kagiso Rabada removed openers Alex Lees and Zak Crawley, Marco Jansen and Anrich Nortje took over to keep the momentum going.

Jansen trapped Joe Root in front for eight and despite the top-ranked Test batter opting for a review, ball tracking confirmed that it would have clipped leg stump.

Soon after the drinks break, Jonny Bairstow's middle stump was flattened by the velocity of Nortje. The in-form Yorkshireman, who has four centuries to his name this summer, departed for a duck.

At the time of writing, England are 80/4 at the end of 22 overs. Skipper Ben Stokes is currently batting on 10 while Ollie Pope looks well set on 42 off 60 deliveries. The hosts have their task cut out, with South Africa's four-man seam attack making the ball talk in the bowler-friendly conditions.

About the author

Sooryanarayanan started off as a non-contracted text commentator at Sportskeeda 3 years ago and is today, the Cricket Commentary Manager. An MBA degree holder, a burning passion for the sport eventually led him to take it up professionally. He also writes insightful Feature pieces from time to time.

Sooryanarayanan sees cricket as a reflection of life’s ebbs and flows, and believes that the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy perfectly showcased it via the determination, courage and the never-give-up attitude displayed on field. He is a staunch Team India supporter and believes that the team has a very bright future. He admires MS Dhoni for how he approaches the sport and life as they come, being unfazed by both victory and defeat.

Sooryanarayanan tries to stick to facts and relies heavily on numerical data to present them. Keeping an objective and neutral view is one of his biggest reporting strengths, along with conducting thorough research and verifying all facts. His exploits in his field have led him to interview some star cricketers like Rovman Powell, Chamari Athapaththu, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris, Peter Hatzoglou, and more.

When not immersed in Cricket, Sooryanarayanan loves to watch movies and web series, which helps him to focus better when he’s back to work.

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