BLOEMFONTEIN: Fast bowlers Sisanda Magala, Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada earned South Africa a dramatic 27-run win in the first One-day International against England here at the Mangaung Oval on Friday (partly reported in Saturday’s edition).
England seemed headed for a comfortable win as Jason Roy and Dawid Malan put on 146 for the first wicket
inside the first 20 overs of England’s reply to South Africa’s 298 for seven.
Roy went on to score a thrilling 113 off 91 balls but the rest of the batting collapsed.
Magala made the crucial breakthrough when Malan mistimed an attempted pull against a short-pitched ball and was caught for 59.
He followed up by trapping debutant Harry Brook leg before wicket for nought.
Magala took three for 46 and was named man-of-the-match, while Nortje (4-62) and Rabada (2-46) were irresistible as the match reached a climax.
Five of the wickets fell to short-pitched bowling.
“The pitch was a bit two-paced and it made the bouncers effective,” said Magala.
England captain Jos Buttler said he was disappointed that his side had not maintained the aggressive intent shown by Roy and Malan.
“South Africa came back really well but I thought we could have kept trying to take it on and put pressure on them,” he said.
Although he finished on the losing side, Roy gave an emphatic answer to critics who have questioned his place in the team after a poor run of form since he helped England win the World Cup in 2019.
He had made only one century since the World Cup, against second-tier Netherlands, and his previous eight innings had yielded only 160 runs with a highest score of 43.
But Roy was in dominant form from the start of his innings, reaching his fifty off 45 balls and his century off 79 deliveries. He hit 11 fours and four sixes.
Earlier, Rassie van der Dussen hit a contrasting century (111 off 117 balls) featuring only six boundaries to enable South Africa to post a challenging total.The three-match series is part of the World Cup Super League and the win was a boost for South Africa, who have yet to earn automatic qualification for the World Cup in India later this year.
Bavuma said South Africa had gone into the series determined to play good cricket, whether or not they qualified for the World Cup.
“We’re happy with the way we went about our business but obviously we need the points,” he said.
SCOREBOARD
SOUTH AFRICA:
Q. de Kock c Buttler b Curran 37
T. Bavuma c Curran b Moeen 36
R. van der Dussen c Duckett b Curran 111
A. Markram c Malan b Stone 13
H. Klaasen lbw Rashid 30
D. Miller c Willey b Curran 53
W. Parnell c Malan b Archer 2
S. Magala not out 5
K. Rabada not out 2
EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-3, W-5) 9
TOTAL (for seven wickets, 50 overs) 298
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-61 (Bavuma), 2-87 (de Kock), 3-116 (Markram), 4-171 (Klaasen), 5-281 (van der Dussen), 6-287 (Parnell), 7-295 (Miller)
DID NOT BAT: A. Nortje, T. Shamsi
BOWLING: Willey 6-0-38-0 (1w); Archer
10-0-81-1 (3w 2nb); Moeen 8-0-51-1; Curran 9-0-35-3 (1w 1nb); Rashid 10-0-55-1; Stone 7-0-37-1
ENGLAND:
J. Roy c Parnell b Rabada 113
D. Malan c Bavuma b Magala 59
B. Duckett c de Kock b Nortje 3
H. Brook lbw Magala 0
J. Buttler c de Kock b Nortje 36
M. Ali c van der Dussen b Magala 11
S. Curran c de Kock b Rabada 17
D. Willey c Miller b Nortje 8
A. Rashid not out 14
J. Archer c Klaasen b Nortje 0
O. Stone c&b Shamsi 1
EXTRAS (LB-2, NB-3, W-4) 9
TOTAL (all out, 44.2 overs) 271
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-146 (Malan), 2-151 (Duckett), 3-152 (Brook), 4-196 (Roy), 5-222 (Ali), 6-234 (Buttler), 7-250 (Willey), 8-266 (Curran), 9-267 (Archer), 10-271 (Stone)
BOWLING: Parnell 8-0-42-0 (1w); Rabada 10-0-46-2 (1w, 1nb); Markram 2-0-18-0 (1w); Nortje 10-0-62-4 (1nb); Shamsi 5.2-0-55-1 (1nb); Magala 9-0-46-3 (1w)
RESULT: South Africa won by 27 runs.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Sisanda Magala
Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2023
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