South Africa defeated England by a score of 27 runs in the inaugural one-day international match, which took place on Friday at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein. The match was won by fast bowlers Sisanda Magala, Anrich Nortje, and Kagiso Rabada.
As Jason Roy and Dawid Malan put up 146 for the first wicket within the first 20 overs of England‘s reply to South Africa’s 298 for seven, it appeared that England was going to cruise to an easy victory.
In the end, Roy scored an impressive 113 runs off 91 balls, but the rest of the batting lineup failed miserably.
Malan’s disastrous attempt to pull against a short-pitched ball resulted in his being caught for 59, which allowed Magala to make the decisive breakthrough.
He continued his strong performance by dismissing the first-time batsman Harry Brook leg before wicket for zero runs.
As the contest approached its finale, Magala got three wickets for 46 runs and was chosen man of the match. Nortje collected four wickets for 62 runs, and Rabada took two wickets for 46 runs. Both bowlers were unstoppable.
The bowling at a short pitch was responsible for the fall of five wickets.
According to Magala, “the pitch was a bit two-paced and that made it such that the bouncers were effective.”
The captain of the England team, Jos Buttler, expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that his team did not keep up the aggressive purpose displayed by Roy and Malan.
“South Africa came back pretty well, but I think we could have kept trying to take it on and put pressure on them,” he said. “We could have kept trying to take it on and put pressure on them.”
Roy responded forcefully to those who have questioned his place in the team after a dismal run of form since he helped England win the World Cup in 2019. Despite the fact that he finished on the losing side, Roy’s performance was an unequivocal reaction to those doubters.
Since the World Cup, he had only scored a century once, and that was against a Netherlands team playing in the lower division. His previous eight innings had produced just 160 runs, with his highest score being 43.
– Archer cost a lot of runs. – But Roy was in commanding form from the very beginning of his innings. He reached his fifty off of 45 balls, and he reached his hundred off of 79 deliveries. He made 11 fours and four sixes during his innings.
Rassie van der Dussen’s remarkable century was a major factor in South Africa being able to produce a formidable total.
Van van Dussen struck only six boundaries on his way to a score of 111 off of 117 balls.
After an opening stand of 61 runs off 52 balls between Quinton de Kock and captain Temba Bavuma, he kept the innings together despite the fact that England’s bowlers made a strong comeback.
Jofra Archer, who plays for England and is a fast bowler, had a rough day in his first one-day international since September of 2020. He took one wicket in ten overs.
On the other hand, the remaining English bowlers slowed down the pitch, making it difficult for the batsmen to score runs.
On a pitch where runs are typically scored at a high rate, South Africa’s total was only 12 runs more than the usual first innings total.
Left-armer Sam Curran grabbed three wickets and 35 runs in just nine overs by varying his pace and making effective use of the bouncer. This was a strategy that the South Africans would later find to be successful.
The three-game series is a part of the World Cup Super League, and South Africa’s victory in the series was a boost for the team. South Africa has not yet earned automatic qualifying for the World Cup, which will be held in India later this year.
Bavuma stated that South Africa had entered the series with the intention of playing good cricket regardless of whether or not they would qualify for the World Cup.
He remarked, “We’re happy with the way we went about our business, but clearly we need the points.” “We’re happy with the way we went about our business.”
India
