Staff Reporter.
England overcame an indifferent batting display to blow South Africa away for 83 – their joint lowest ODI total against England – and clinch a commanding 118-run victory in the second Royal London ODI at Old Trafford in Manchester on Friday night.
The win evens up the series 1-1 after South Africa won the first ODI by 62 runs at Durham on Tuesday. The decider will be played at Headingley in Leeds on Sunday.
Acting South Africa skipper Keshav Maharaj was philosophical in defeat. “England’s score was chaseable but we never adapted. We needed a good foundation, and there are some questions about some of the dismissals, but now it’s back to the drawing board. I enjoy the captaincy, but [dealing with defeat] is part and parcel of the job.”
England captain Jos Buttler was understandably delighted with the win. “The guys played in the fashion we want to play. Can we do better? Absolutely. But I tell the guys to back themselves, take the risks and impose themselves on the opposition. Me and Liam (Livingstone) tried to get a rebuild going, Liam and Sam Curran had the bravery to take on the options.
“The guys are bowling brilliantly, Topley and Dave (Willey) with the early wickets. Jonny said batting in the powerplay wouldn’t be easy if we held our lengths. We haven’t fired with the bat in white-ball cricket but we know how dangerous we can be when we do.”
The match was reduced to 29 overs per side after steady rain in the morning and early afternoon delayed the start of play. Maharaj won the toss and had no hesitation in asking England to bat first and would have been happy to have restricted his opponents to 201 in 28.1 overs – the fifth time in a row that England had been bowled out in an ODI.
That total, however, soon took on intimidating proportions as England’s three left-handed pace bowlers, Reece Topley, David Willey and Sam Curran, reduced South Africa to a horrendous six for four wickets in 3.5 overs and then 27 for five. There was little chance of a recovery from there although Heinrich Klaasen struck 33 in a losing cause.
HAVOC UPFRONT
Both teams could claim to have bowled well, with England’s pace bowlers bowling a fuller length and getting the ball to swing, while their spin twins, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, combined well to claim five wickets between them. South Africa’s Dwaine Pretorius, on the other hand, bowled cutters and varied his pace well to take a career-best 4-36 to help restrict England to their total.
That figure, however, proved more than enough to get England home comfortably, with the home team’s pace attack causing havoc up front. Quinton de Kock and Janneman Malan were barely able to put bat to ball in the first two overs and this led Malan to hole out to Curran at mid-on in Topley’s second over. The big paceman then strangled Rassie van der Dussen down the leg side with the last ball of the over.
The carnage continued in the next over from Willey as he first had De Kock caught at cover off a leading edge before a suicidal single led to Jos Buttler throwing down the stumps with Aiden Markram – who hadn’t faced a ball – well out of his ground.
David Miller cracked a couple of boundaries but when the third left-arm paceman, man-of-the-match Curran, knocked back his off-stump with a cutter, the game was effectively over. England’s only concern being whether the drizzle would get any heavier and deny them victory.
CUNNING VARIETY
Earlier, Pretorius, who wouldn’t have made the side without Andile Phehlukwayo being sidelined for concussion, bowled a superb length and with cunning variety as he claimed the key scalps of Jonny Bairstow (28), Phil Salt (17) and Joe Root (1) in his first three overs in which he only conceded nine runs.
Once again, England’s top-order was unduly rash in their strokeplay. Both Jason Roy and Salt were out to similar cross-batted shots, being caught by Pretorius and David Miller respectively at midwicket, while Root played an ugly heave to top-edge a simple catch to wicketkeeper De Kock.
Only Bairstow can claim to have received a good delivery with Pretorius spearing an off-cutter through his defence. Ali then tamely holed out at deep backward square leg off Maharaj and then skipper Buttler, going through a rough patch at present, was deceived by a chinaman from Tabraiz Shamsi, slicing his attempted drive to backward-point as England slumped to 101 for six in the 18th over.
England were saved from embarrassment, however, by destructive cameos from Livingstone and Curran. Curran struck his fourth ball for six and that maximum was then followed by three consecutive sixes by Livingstone off Anrich Nortje who fed his hook and pull shots. But just when Livingstone looked to take command, he flat-batted a slower ball from Nortje straight to Miller at midwicket.
Curren, who looked in better touch than anyone, finally mishit a cleverly flighted wider delivery from Shamsi to Markram at long-off while Willey became Pretorius’s fourth victim, slogging him into the deep. South Africa’s excellent outfielding was then confirmed with their final wicket as Klaasen’s brilliant throw found Rashid a metre short of his ground with five balls still remaining.