At the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein on Friday, South Africa defeated England in the first ODI of the series. Fast bowlers Sisanda Magala, Anrich Nortje, and Kagiso Rabada gave South Africa a thrilling 27-run victory over England. 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 little bit two-paced, which helped the bouncers work well, claimed Magala.
This comeback from SA is particularly due to the quiet excllence of Magala & our fiery speedster, Snor!!
Don't forget Rassie's 111 also!
Nicely done lads. #SAvsENG pic.twitter.com/yyttceSqow
— Eusebius McKaiser (@Eusebius) January 27, 2023
Jos Buttler, the captain of England, expressed disappointment that his team had not continued the aggressive attitude displayed by Roy and Malan. He stated, “South Africa recovered pretty well, but I felt we could have kept trying to take it on and put pressure on them.
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 With speed changes and effective bouncer deployment, Sam Curran took three for 35 in nine overs. This strategy eventually proved successful for the South Africans.
Regardless of whether they made it to the World Cup, South Africa had entered the series ready to play solid cricket, said Bavuma. Despite the fact that we need the points, he continued, “We’re delighted with how we conducted ourselves.”
South Africa’s victory in the three-game World Cup Super League series gave them a lift since they have yet to secure automatic qualification for the World Cup in India later this year.
