Nottingham — "Thirteen‚ yeah‚" Morné Morkel said with a wan smile on Wednesday after being reminded that no one had taken as many wickets with no-balls in Test cricket as he had. "World record‚ thank you. Somebody has to hold it." Morkel’s unlucky 13th was Ben Stokes‚ who was 44 not out in the first Test at Lord’s when he had the top of his leg stump nailed by a wicked inswinger that had snuck through the gap. Replays showed that Morkel had not grounded any of his left boot behind the bowling crease and Stokes was reprieved. Stokes was dismissed a marginal 12 runs later‚ but Kagiso Rabada’s "f**k off" to the departing batsman led to him being banned for the second Test in Nottingham on Friday. Had Morkel not overstepped‚ Stokes — who has history with South Africans, having told Temba Bavuma he was "absolute rubbish" — would not have been around for Rabada to swear at. Not that Morkel’s mess-up was all SA got wrong. Joe Root should have been caught on the boundary for five‚ but Aiden...
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