ENG vs SA: South Africa defeated England in first ODI with 27 runs

• South Africa beat England by 27 runs in first ODI in Bloemfontein.
• Jason Roy hit an unbeaten 113 off 91 balls for England.
• England’s bowlers made the batters work hard for their runs.

At the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein on Friday, fast bowlers Sisanda Magala, Anrich Nortje, and Kagiso Rabada gave South Africa a thrilling 27-run victory against England in the first one-day international.

In the first 20 overs of England’s reply to South Africa’s 298 for seven, Jason Roy and Dawid Malan put up 146 runs for the first wicket, giving England a comfortable lead.

The rest of the batting order failed, but Roy went on to score an exciting 113 off 91 balls.

When Malan mistimed a pull effort against a short-pitched ball and was caught for 59, Magala made the critical breakthrough.

He then caught debutant Harry Brook leg before wicket for nothing as a follow-up.

As the match came to a head, Nortje (four for 62) and Rabada (two for 46) were unstoppable, while Magala took three for 46 and was awarded man of the match.

Short-pitched bowling was responsible for five of the wickets.

“The pitch was a bit two-paced and it made the bouncers effective,” said Magala.

Jos Buttler, the captain of England, expressed disappointment that his team had not continued the aggressive attitude displayed 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.

Roy answered critics who had questioned his status in the team after a bad run of form since he assisted England win the World Cup in 2019 emphatically, even though his team ultimately lost.

Since the World Cup, he had only scored one century, against the lower-tier Netherlands, and his previous eight innings had only produced 160 runs, with a top score of 43.

However, Roy was in excellent form from the beginning of his innings, taking only 45 balls to complete his fifty and 79 deliveries to reach his century. He scored four sixes and eleven fours.

Rassie van der Dussen scored an unexpected century to help South Africa record a difficult total.

Van der Dussen scored 111 runs off 117 balls while only hitting six extra-pointers.

Quinton de Kock and captain Temba Bavuma put up an opening stand of 61 off 52 balls, but England’s bowlers battled back hard, and he kept the innings together.

In his first one-day match since September 2020, England fast bowler Jofra Archer was pricey, taking one for 81 in ten overs.

On a slow field, the rest of England’s bowlers forced the batters to work hard for their runs.

Only 12 runs separated South Africa’s total from the typical first innings score on a field famed for its high scoring.

Left-armer In nine overs, Sam Curran took three for 35 while varying his pace and making strong use of the bouncer—a strategy that later produced successful results for the South Africans.

The World Cup Super League’s three-match series was won by South Africa, who has yet to secure automatic qualification for the World Cup in India later this year.

Whether or not South Africa made it to the World Cup, according to Bavuma, they were committed to play good cricket in the series.

“We’re happy with the way we went about our business but obviously we need the points,” he said.

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