ENG vs SA - 1st Test Lord's, London | South Africa win by an innings and 12 runs

LONDON: South Africa accomplished a masterful innings and 12-run win over England on Day-3 of the 1st Test at Lord's Cricket Ground in London on Friday, with one of their greatest bowling shows in recent years.

Anrich Nortje took 3 wickets in a furious post-lunch spell, which included doubles for Player of the Contest Kagiso Rabada (2/27), Marco Jansen (2/13) and Keshav Maharaj (2/35) as the hosts were bowled out for 149 in 37.4 overs. On Day 3, Lungi Ngidi (1/15) also pick a wicket, completing an impressive result made even more remarkable though Half of Day 1 was washed out due to weather.

England faced only 82.4 overs in total of two innings, the 3rd-shortest period of time they batted in a home Test defeat. This was also their only 4th innings defeat at the Lord's, with the Proteas responsible for two of those thumping victories, including the most recent by Graeme Smith's team in 2003.

Mark Boucher's team currently leads the top at ICC World Test Championship, will now take a 1-0 advantage into the second game, which begins next Thursday at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. And they deserved to win the first game of the series.

Rabada's five for 52 in the first innings influenced them to dismiss England for a poor 165 before continuing on the third morning on 289 for seven. Despite Jansen's career-best 48, they lost their three remaining wickets for 37 runs, leaving South Africa with a healthy 161-run lead at the changeover.

After another strict opening, the early introduction of Maharaj amazed the opponents, as the spinner eliminated both Zak Crawley (13) and Ollie Pope (5) cheaply. After lunch, Ngidi dismissed the dangerous Joe Root for only 6 runs, leaving England on 57 for 3.

A fired-up Nortje was too fast for Jonny Bairstow (18) and Alex Lees (35), both topped behind to Kyle Verreynne during a 10-ball spell in which he took 3 wickets for no runs. It was already 86/6 at that moment, and despite the best efforts of Stuart Broad (35) and Ben Stokes (20) to force the South Africans to bat again, they fell short in a famous win.