England vs South Africa: Ben Stokes' side lose six wickets on wet opening day at Lord's

England spluttered to 116-6 after being inserted by South Africa in helpful bowling conditions on a rain-affected first day of the first LV= Insurance Test at Lord's.

Kagiso Rabada (2-36), back fit after an ankle injury, saw off England openers Alex Lees (5) and Zak Crawley (9) cheaply, while the raw pace of Anrich Nortje (3-43) ran through the middle order.

Joe Root fell for eight to Marco Jansen (1-18), before the in-form Jonny Bairstow was clean-bowled for a duck by a 93mph Nortje delivery that sneaked through his defences.

Ben Stokes (20) fell to Nortje's final ball of the first session, while Ben Foakes' (6) stumps were also dismantled by the Proteas pace bowler shortly before the rain arrived in mid-afternoon to take the players off, with no further play possible.
• Day One at Lord's - as it happened

Ollie Pope (61no) played nicely as wickets tumbled around him, bringing up an eighth Test fifty, and he will be hoping to cash in with better batting conditions expected for the remainder of the Test match.

Under cloud-leaden skies on the first morning, and with rain expected, it was no surprise when South Africa captain Dean Elgar elected to bowl first after winning the toss.

It took just 18 deliveries for the first wicket to arrive, albeit it came courtesy of a batter error more than any help from the pitch or those dismal overheads, Lees simply picking the wrong length to have a drive at and serving up a routine catch for Kyle Verreynne behind the stumps.

At the other end, Crawley's wretched Test form continued as, having made a watchful start, he eventually found a ball with his name on it, steering an outside edge to second slip for Rabada's second.

Root can perhaps consider himself rather unlucky to be given out lbw to left-armer Jansen (1-18). Bowled from over the wicket, and coming back into the right-hander, he hopefully reviewed thinking the ball might have been sliding down, only to see it clip leg stump on 'umpire's call'.

In came Bairstow, so often the star for England this summer, but he could provide no counter punch on this occasion, his middle stump uprooted by a ripper from Nortje fifth ball.

Nortje had otherwise been rather wayward to start his spell from the Nursery End, but the wicket certainly helped him grow into the contest and he claimed the key wicket of Stokes on the stroke of lunch to another brutal delivery.

This one, bowled from round the wicket, was a bit more back-of-a-length and completely squared Stokes up, the England skipper forced to fend an edge through to Keegan Petersen at third slip.

The wicket ended what had been a briefly positive partnership for England, with Pope and Stokes putting on 45 together - Pope bringing up his half century earlier in the same Nortje over, a ball after having himself been dropped by Petersen in the slips.

But that was as bright as things would get on day one, with Foakes falling after the interval to coincide with the arrival of the rain and dark, ominous clouds overhead.

'Pope was fantastic, we don't look for consistency with Crawley'

England assistant coach Paul Collingwood on Ollie Pope: "I thought he was fantastic. Our mantra of trying to put the opposition under pressure, he did that brilliantly. He batted exceptionally well and showed a lot of skill.

"I thought he was composed, he looked busy at the crease and on a wicket that was giving quite a lot of assistance to the bowlers, he got us in a position where we are not necessarily out of the game."

Collingwood on Zak Crawley: "The messaging is very clear with Zak. We don't necessarily look for consistency with him. It's about match-winning performances and being able to do special things.

"One innings ago he had a hundred partnership against India to chase down over 350 so we don't forget about those contributions in our dressing room. He's got a lot of talent, we know that.

"I'm sure he's frustrated he's not getting more runs but certainly in the dressing room we're confident he can turn things around and have those match-winning contributions."

Watch day two of first LV= Insurance Test between England and South Africa, at Lord's, live on Sky Sports Cricket on Thursday. Coverage starts at 10.15am, with play getting under way at 11am.