An under-strength England team was soundly beaten in Cape Town in the first of three ODIs against South Africa
Right, that’s all from me. The second ODI will be played in Durban on Friday, with the third and final match scheduled for Johannesburg on Sunday, and you’ll obviously be able to follow both of those here. For now, though, bye!
Barney Ronay is in South Africa, and here’s his match report:
So much for new dawns, new cycles, reboots of the reboot. In Cape Town England’s World Cup winning 50-over team stuttered back into action with a performance that choked on its own ambition early on before falling back on an old school rescue job from Joe Denly. By the end they were beaten easily under the evening lights as Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma flogged some poor bowling around Newlands.
There may be champion teams in the past roster of World Cup winners who could afford to lose players of the quality of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes, all injured or rested here. But on this evidence England are some way short of joining them. Instead a mixture of fill-ins and next-cabs-off-the-rank looked at times like a trip back to the bad old days.
Related: De Kock leads South Africa’s eight-wicket demolition of England in first ODI
Quinton de Kock is the man of the match:
It was a good night. I’m just glad to get a win, it feels good to get back to winning ways. This week we had one or two chats about where we wanted to take this ODI team going forward, and I think today was a good start. I’m just really proud of the boys. It’s one thing speaking about it and [another] bringing it out to the field and today we did it, and I’m really pleased about it. It’s only one game. We’ll see how it goes in the near future. Hopefully it keeps on being good for me.
I did. I enjoyed it. It kept me in the game, especially when things were really tough. With that extra bit of responsibility, it just helped me. When he [Bavuma] walked in, we understood it’s pretty difficult to get boundaries, it’s just trying to find a way to get momentum. We understood that just running hard between the wickets was the way to go about it, and that was the way we went about it.
Eoin Morgan has a chat:
You’re way off the mark. We were hurt. South Africa completely outplayed us today in all departments. We’ve got no excuses, we didn’t adapt to the conditions that were set in front of us. We knew it wasn’t going to be a complete runfest but every batsman apart from I suppose Joe Denly and Chris Woakes really struggled to get going, which probably emphasises that we are a little bit rusty, but South Africa bowled well, used conditions really well with slower balls, and the partnership between De Kock and Bavuma we couldn’t penetrate. It made it very difficult for us. Full credit to them, they’ve started the series really well.
I think we lacked the adaptation to the skill level that was needed. I think the guys have gone hard as we always try to do but when that doesn’t come off we try to rein it in a little bit. I think we lost wickets in clusters, up until Woakes and Denly partnership, and that total only got us in the game if we bowled well and managed to take early wickets. Having let the guys get themselves in we struggled to drag things back.
Van der Dussen ends the innings unbeaten once again, which means that his average, across 15 ODI innings, is now 78. It’s the highest average of all players to have played at least as many ODI innings, ever, ahead of Ryan ten Doeschate’s 67 and Virat Kohli’s comparatively dreadful 59.85.
48th over: South Africa 254-3 (Van der Dussen 37, Smuts 7) A single for Van der Dussen and a sweep for four from Smuts, and it’s all over! Everybody seemed pretty pleased with England’s total at the break, but South Africa turned their run chase into a procession, with only Reeza Hendricks disappointing with that bat.
47th over: South Africa 254-3 (Van der Dussen 37, Smuts 3) A good over for South Africa, and this should finally settle any remaining nerves. Nine off it, the highlight being Van der Dussen driving sweetly for four. They need just five more to wrap this up.
46th over: South Africa 245-3 (Van der Dussen 29, Smuts 2) Smuts is looking a bit nervous here. The ball squirts off his bat to backward point and Van der Dussen gets halfway down the wicket before he’s sent back, then the next is worked to square leg and it happens again. Finally he does get a single, and Van der Dussen nudges the last ball of Parkinson’s over to fine leg; Jordan sprints from fine leg to stop it just before the rope. South Africa require 14 runs off 24 balls.
45th over: South Africa 240-3 (Van der Dussen 25, Smuts 1) Another Jordan over, another three singles, as South Africa tiptoe towards their target.
44th over: South Africa 237-3 (Van der Dussen 23, Smuts 0) Parkinson’s seventh over brings three runs. South Africa have 36 balls to get the 22 runs they require.
43rd over: South Africa 234-3 (Van der Dussen 19, Smuts 0) A Van der Dussen single brings Bavuma on strike, two off a century. A buzz of anticipation ripples round the ground but it’s not to be, and two balls later he’s back in the hutch. Out comes Jon-Jon Smuts, making his ODI debut. Six more quick wickets and England might have half a chance.
OH NO!
Bavuma (98) falls two short of a richly-deserved second ODI century as Jordan traps him lbw with one that keeps low.
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A full house of reds, and Bavuma’s gone! An excellent innings, but though he gets a standing ovation on his way off he’s denied the celebratory bat-waving his performance deserved.
It looks like Bavuma has gone, just two away from his century, but there’s a chance this was missing leg stump. He’s sent it upstairs to check!
42nd over: South Africa 233-2 (Bavuma 98, Van der Dussen 19) Root’s seventh over. Bavuma continues along the path to centurytown, while Van der Dussen drives through the covers, just past the fingertips of a diving Morgan and away for four.
41st over: South Africa 225-2 (Bavuma 95, Van der Dussen 14) Van der Dussen advances to hack Denly’s penultimate delivery over mid-on for four. They only need to dot the T’s and cross the I’s now, with 34 runs needed at 3.77.
40th over: South Africa 218-2 (Bavuma 92, Van der Dussen 10) For the first time, South Africa’s required run rate dips below four midway through Root’s over. Three dots and it’s back up again, to 4.10.
39th over: South Africa 214-2 (Bavuma 91, Van der Dussen 7) Temba Bavuma, who nearly three-and-a-half years (if only a couple of matches) after his ODI debut has an average of 126, moves into the 90s.
38th over: South Africa 208-2 (Bavuma 86, Van der Dussen 6) Just two runs off Root’s over, making it the joint-cheapest since the very first of the innings.
37th over: South Africa 206-2 (Bavuma 85, Van der Dussen 5) Denly’s back. Nothing much happens. Whatever devilment was in the wicket earlier seems to have fled a long time ago.
36th over: South Africa 202-2 (Bavuma 83, Van der Dussen 3) Van der Dussen comes in, pummels his first delivery past extra cover for a couple, and then misjudges his second, chipping it back towards but just short of the bowler!
De Kock goes! He tries to hoist the ball over midwicket, misses it completely and the ball straightens to take out middle stump!
35th over: South Africa 198-1 (De Kock 107, Bavuma 82) Woakes bowls. He concedes four singles.
34th over: South Africa 194-1 (De Kock 105, Bavuma 80) De Kock completes his century in style with a four, which runs away through the covers with a fielder gamely running in his wake. And then again! The ball goes in a near-identical direction, and Curran (SM) gives vain chase once again. The players will take drinks, with the match surely all but settled.
33rd over: South Africa 185-1 (De Kock 97, Bavuma 79) Woakes’ first delivery is dismissed through midwicket for four by De Kock, taking him to 5,001 career ODI runs, though an attempt to repeat the shot next ball goes straight to a fielder. Parkinson is called upon to make another diving stop on the boundary, and this time he actually stops the ball. The required run rate is down to 4.35 now.
32nd over: South Africa 177-1 (De Kock 90, Bavuma 78) Parkinson’s back, and Bavuma heaves one high over midwicket for a one-bounce four. England were 140-6 at this stage, but South Africa are playing their own game by this point. This is now a 152-run partnership, and there’s more to come yet.
31st over: South Africa 172-1 (De Kock 89, Bavuma 74) Curran (TK) bangs the ball into the pitch a bit, and De Kock takes a wild swing at the first but edges it away for a single. Parkinson helps South Africa along, diving over the ball on the boundary and letting one he should have fielded trickle into the rope.
30th over: South Africa 164-1 (De Kock 82, Bavuma 73) Woakes slows the South Africa sprint: this over was dot-single-dot-single-dot-single, which wasn’t exactly what England needed but did at least make a nice, regular pattern on the scoresheet.
29th over: South Africa 162-1 (De Kock 81, Bavuma 72) South Africa require only double-figure runs to win this now, and at well under five an over. De Kock slaps one square for four, and then smashes one straight back to Curran (TK), who can’t get his hand into position in time to catch it. Still, it’ll have to go down as a drop.
28th over: South Africa 155-1 (De Kock 75, Bavuma 71) Woakes, England’s best/only good bowler so far today, returns, but alas with no instant magic. He bowls one shortish across Bavuma, who pulls it off his waist and high over long leg for six!
27th over: South Africa 147-1 (De Kock 75, Bavuma 65) Curran (TK) puts a lid on the boundary-smashing, with two singles and a two coming from his fifth over. Brief respite for England.
26th over: South Africa 143-1 (De Kock 74, Bavuma 62) Blammo! Now Bavuma’s at it! Denly bowls a long-hop, not his first, and Bavuma smashes it away for six. So far Woakes’s economy rate is 2.60, less than half of England’s next least expensive bowler.
25th over: South Africa 133-1 (De Kock 73, Bavuma 53) Curran (TK) replaces Curran (SM), and De Kock produces the first maximum of the innings, hoisting the ball high into the air and straight down the ground. Then he tries to spank one over cow corner and misses it completely, his first totally mistimed swing. Looks like he’s bored of ones and twos, which is both dispiriting and encouraging for England I suppose.
24th over: South Africa 125-1 (De Kock 66, Bavuma 52) Four singles from Denly’s over, but they’re notable ones. This partnership has now taken 103 balls to add 100 runs, with Bavuma outscoring his captain 52-47. England’s best partnership was the 91 added by Denly and Woakes.
23rd over: South Africa 121-1 (De Kock 64, Bavuma 50) Bavuma reaches 50 with a single from his 53rd delivery, and De Kock smashes the next away for four. England require a complete momentum change at this point, but don’t appear to have anyone likely to engender one.
Matt Parkinson's first over in ODI cricket was bowled at an average of 74.12kph. In the last year, there have only been seven slower overs bowled in this format. #SAvENG
22nd over: South Africa 114-1 (De Kock 59, Bavuma 48) South Africa are literally strolling at present. Denly has a bowl, and they walk a couple of singles before De Kock hoiks a fairly rubbish delivery over square leg for four. England were 108-5 at this point.
21st over: South Africa 104-1 (De Kock 51, Bavuma 46) Curran (SM) is back, but he can’t instantly change the flow of this river.
20th over: South Africa 100-1 (De Kock 50, Bavuma 43) That’s half of a century for Quinton de Kock! He reaches it with a couple of singles, the first of which never went anywhere near his bat as it spun down the leg side, but the umpire was convinced.
19th over: South Africa 96-1 (De Kock 48, Bavuma 41) Bavuma absolutely flays one past backward point for four. That’s a brutal, beautiful shot. Bavuma’s on 41 from 42 deliveries, and is looking right at home.
18th over: South Africa 88-1 (De Kock 46, Bavuma 35) After a good over from Parkinson the players take drinks. England need a wicket or three at some point soonish.
17th over: South Africa 86-1 (De Kock 45, Bavuma 34) Chris Jordan comes in. Bavuma’s sweet cover drive for four off the last takes South Africa to 86, now ahead of England’s run rate and with wickets in hand (England were 84-4 at this point).
16th over: South Africa 76-1 (De Kock 43, Bavuma 26) A shot for the highlight reel from De Kock, a kind of falling reverse slap to deep point, where Denly cuts it off. This partnership has brought 51 runs, precisely as many as England’s opening pair managed.
15th over: South Africa 69-1 (De Kock 40, Bavuma 22) De Kock and Bavuma both have a go at smashing the ball through the covers, but both shots are fielded and they bring only three runs between them. This is all a little bit too untroubled for England’s liking.
14th over: South Africa 64-1 (De Kock 37, Bavuma 20) Matt Parkinson, making his ODI debut, has a first bowl. Good flight, good revs, but it’s all a bit slow, and the batsmen score eight pretty untroubled runs, concluding with a reverse sweep from De Kock that was fine in every sense of the word.
13th over: South Africa 56-1 (De Kock 32, Bavuma 17) A wide from Curran (TK) brings the first extra of the innings. Bavuma smashes the next delivery with maximum force, but straight to the fielder at point.
12th over: South Africa 52-1 (De Kock 30, Bavuma 16) Bavuma scoops one over his left shoulder for four. South Africa remain a little behind England’s run rate - the tourists were 61-2 at this point - but close enough to feel pretty comfortable, and with a bonus wicket in hand.
11th over: South Africa 46-1 (De Kock 29, Bavuma 11) A new Curran has a bowl, Tom this time, and De Kock hits another splendid straight drive for four.
10th over: South Africa 41-1 (De Kock 25, Bavuma 10) South Africa keep the scoreline ticking over with a full house of singles from Root’s second over.
9th over: South Africa 35-1 (De Kock 22, Bavuma 7) Woakes keeps going. I don’t know what kind of filters Sky have on their cameras, but the sky above Cape Town today looks to be of the bluest, book-me-a-plane-ticket-right-now blue. I am finding the jealousy quite distracting.
8th over: South Africa 30-1 (De Kock 20, Bavuma 4) Root comes on first change for England, and Bavuma gets off the mark with a reverse sweep down to third man for four. “They discussed a building-site?” muses Ian Copestake. “Surely it was of interest as a deeper reflection of their own shared desire to be useful and their regret at no longer being able to contribute something tangible and lasting within the environment. As retired cricketers commenting on the actions and achievements of others surely does not come without its own frisson of melancholy. So not just a building-site.”
7th over: South Africa 25-1 (De Kock 19, Bavuma 0) Hendricks made six from the first six balls he faced, and then none from the next eight. Finally he’s undone by a cross-seamer from Woakes.
Hendricks feathers a nick through to the keeper, who’s left with an easy catch!
6th over: South Africa 24-0 (De Kock 18, Hendricks 6) De Kock edges Curran’s first ball but high and wide of Bairstow, and away for four.
5th over: South Africa 19-0 (De Kock 13, Hendricks 6) Woakes lands one on, well, de kock of De Kock, whose box does the business. He gets a single off the last, again. On Sky, Mark Nicholas and Rob Key discuss at some length a nearby building site “I doubt it’s that interesting for our viewers, though, so let’s move on,” Nicholas concludes, not unreasonably.
4th over: South Africa 16-0 (De Kock 11, Hendricks 5) De Kock mistimes a drive and the ball loops back towards the stumps at the other end. Curran dives to his left, but doesn’t get anywhere near the catch. Hendricks drives the next ball, and there’s no issue with his timing, the ball scuttling through the covers for four.
3rd over: South Africa 10-0 (De Kock 10, Hendricks 1) For the second over in a row, De Kock gets a single off the last ball. Hendricks has only faced three so far.
2nd over: South Africa 8-0 (De Kock 7, Hendricks 1) Curran’s first delivery is pushed back down the ground by De Kock, a four from the moment it met his bat. Some singles follow.
1st over: South Africa 1-0 (De Kock 1, Hendricks 0) Cards on the table, I’ve just got to OBO HQ from interviewing a footballer and watched nothing of the England innings. I bring nothing but enthusiasm and a vague ability to type. Hopefully that’ll be enough to pull us through. Anyway, action: the last ball of Woakes’ opener thuds against Hendricks’ pad and brings a loud appeal; the umpire raises his finger but the batsman reviews, and the ball turned out to be heading down the leg side! Actually by quite a long way!
Hello everyone! Right then, no messing about: the players are out, the sun is too, and there’s cricket to be played!
That’s it from me. Simon Burnton is here to talk you through the runchase - you can contact him by email here or tweet @Simon__Burnton. Bye!
It’s hard to know whether that’s a good score. The surface is sluggish and my instinct is that England are slight favourites, but the pitch could speed up when the lights come on this evening. What we can say is that Joe Denly (87 from 103 balls) and Tabraiz Shamsi (10-0-38-3) were several shades of excellent, and that England would like to dismiss Quinton de Kock as early as possible.
50th over: England 258-8 (T Curran 53, Jordan 1) Curran ignores a short slower ball from Beuran Hendricks, assuming it will be called wide. Wrong!But England do get an overthrow from the last delivery after a stupid throw from Temba Bavuma. South Africa need 259 to win!
Joe Denly’s outstanding innings comes to an end. He lifted a slower ball miles in the air towards long on, where Reeza Hendricks backpedalled to take a well judged catch. Denly made 87 from 103 balls, including 51 from his last 39 deliveries.
49th over: England 253-7 (Denly 87, T Curran 11) An excellent over from Ngidi is tarnished when Denly smears the last delivery over mid-off for his second six. That takes England past 250.
48th over: England 243-7 (Denly 79, T Curran 9) Hendricks misses a run-out chance off his own bowling, missing the stumps with Tom Curran halfway down the pitch.And then Denly is dropped by Smuts, a simple chance when Denly clothed a full toss straight to him. A terrific over from Hendricks nonetheless, only four from it.
47th over: England 239-7 (Denly 77, T Curran 7) Yeeha! Denly charges Ngidi and launches a big six over wide long on. Of all the gin joints in all the world, surely he’s not going to finally make his first century for England here? I doubt there’s enough time. But he has played a gem of an innings, vaguely reminiscent of Michael Bevan at his best.
46th over: England 231-7 (Denly 70, T Curran 6) This is turning into a handy score for England, who were 131 for six after 28 overs. If they get de Kock early, I think they’ll win. Meanwhile, the legspinner Shamsi ends with splendid figures of 10-0-38-3.
45th over: England 226-7 (Denly 68, T Curran 3) Tom Curran, who played some cracking cameos in the Big Bash League, gets off the mark by rifling Sipamla down the ground for two. A single to Denly off the last delivery takes him to his highest ODI score.
The debutant Litho Sipamla gets his first ODI wicket when Woakes holes out to mid-off. His mother leads the celebrations, springing to her feet to hug those next to her in the crowd. Woakes, at his no-frills best, made a very useful 40 from 42 balls.
44th over: England 221-6 (Denly 67, Woakes 40) Shamsi returns to bowl his last two overs. After three singles from the first five balls, Denly launches a superb drive to cow corner for four. That means he has equalled his career-best ODI score, which from memory was against Ireland at Belfast on his debut in August 2009.
43rd over: England 214-6 (Denly 62, Woakes 38) Denly, hit painfully in the ribs earlier in the over, makes room to slap a short slower ball from Sipamla over mid-off for four. After an understandably slow start, he has hit 24 from the last 19 balls.
42nd over: England 205-6 (Denly 55, Woakes 37) JJ Smuts’ last over goes for eight, all in ones and twos. This has been such a well-judged partnership. Smuts, the debutant, finishes with decent figures of 10-0-43-1.
41st over: England 197-6 (Denly 53, Woakes 31) Denly brings up a patient half-century, his first in ODIs since 20 September 2009. England are scoring off almost every delivery now; the last six overs have gone for 43.
40th over: England 191-6 (Denly 48, Woakes 30) Woakes survives a potential run-out chance when Bavuma fumbles in the covers. Five singles from Smuts’ penultimate over.
39th over: England 186-6 (Denly 45, Woakes 28) Phehlukwayo is back. Denly picks one of his many slower balls and launches it over mid-off for four, a superb stroke that brings up an intelligent, humble fifty partnership. The next ball is treated similarly, this time a little straighter, and all of a sudden England have scored 32 from the last four overs.
38th over: England 176-6 (Denly 36, Woakes 27) Denly has stealthily become England’s top scorer. It’s been a sensible innings, tailor-made for the pitch and match situation, and he has ushered England towards a competitive total on a very slow pitch.
37th over: England 173-6 (Denly 34, Woakes 25) Woakes blasts Hendricks just over extra-cover for four, the start of an excellent over for England. Eleven from it, most of them to Woakes, who has sped to 25 from 25 balls.
Here’s Matt Dony. “Following on from Ian Copestake, maybe if John Starbuck has been on the side of a bus, sans kit, it would all have been so different...”
36th over: England 162-6 (Denly 34, Woakes 16) Woakes gets his first boundary, making room to slash Smuts wide of backward point for four. It was in the air, and not quite where he intended, but he got four for it.
35th over: England 154-6 (Denly 33, Woakes 9) Beuran Hendricks, on for Sipamla, beats Denly with a good delivery from around the wicket. Three singles from the over. This is such a struggle, and the England batsmen aren’t exactly motoring either, honk.
34th over: England 151-6 (Denly 32, Woakes 7)
33rd over: England 149-6 (Denly 31, Woakes 6) Denly plays a lovely cover drive for four off Sipamla. Every little helps, and Woakes contributes a couple more with a drag over mid-on. That’s drinks.
32nd over: England 140-6 (Denly 26, Woakes 3) The left-arm spinner JJ Smuts returns to the attack and hurries through another parsimonious over. England are crawling towards a vaguely competitive total.
“I see Brian Withington has succumbed to blame culture by laying the cause of this national debacle at my door,” says Ian Copestake. “Well I’m here to tell him he is spot on. You can’t envision Starbuck naked without repercussions. See also Brexit.”
31st over: England 138-6 (Denly 25, Woakes 2) Sipamla tries to york Denly, who digs it out calmly. One from the over, which means England have scored 32 from the last 10. I’ll level with you: it’s not riveting.
30th over: England 137-6 (Denly 24, Woakes 2) Two runs from Shamsi’s eighth over. This is his first game as South Africa’s premier spinner, following the retirement of Imran Tahir, and it couldn’t have gone much better. He has figures of 8-0-26-3.
29th over: England 135-6 (Denly 23, Woakes 1) This innings turned on the run-out of Joe Root, who looked in lovely touch and had breezed to 17 from 21 balls without recourse to boundaries.
28th over: England 131-6 (Denly 20, Woakes 0) The new batsman is Chris Woakes, who is playing his 100th ODI. Denly and Woakes... if any pair can sex down England’s batting approach, it’s these two.
Sam Curran is bowled round his legs! He missed a sweep at a ball that turned just enough to clip the outside of the leg stump. Shamsi has his third wicket!
27th over: England 127-5 (Denly 19, S Curran 5) It’s all very low key at the moment: a single here, a dot ball there. Lutho Sipamla, 21, comes on to bowl for the first time in an ODI. After an accurate start, he drops short and allows Denly to nail a swivel-pull through midwicket for four. Shot!
“Banton Banter,” warns Adam Hirst. “If Banton had been given not out on review, would the umpire have said ‘Baby, come back’?”
26th over: England 121-5 (Denly 14, S Curran 4) England have hit only four boundaries in the last 17 overs, three of them from Banton. It’s not an easy pitch, this, and the odds of 2/1 on an England win look pretty generous.
25th over: England 118-5 (Denly 12, S Curran 3) England bat pretty deep - Parkinson at No11 is the only donkey - so they could still reach the magical target of 240ish. Their celebrated lower order failed under pressure in the World Cup, but this is a more relaxed situation. And most of the players are different.
24th over: England 115-5 (Denly 10, S Curran 2) The left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi has had a fine day so far. His figures are 5-0-18-2. England are going nowhere at the moment but that’s understandable in the circumstances. They need a partnership.
“Hi Rob,” says Damian Burns. “If my £2 a month contribution to the Guardian isn’t being used to fly you to Cape Town to cover the cricket, I really don’t know why I bother donating at all…”
23rd over: England 111-5 (Denly 8, S Curran 1) Lundi Ngidi returns to the attack. His first spell was that of a fast bowler returning after a hamstring tear. He should be able to relax a little more this time, especially as he won’t be bowling to Roy and Bairstow, and starts with an uneventful over. Three singles from it.
“Am I alone in still reeling from the disturbing Starbuck imagery induced by the mischievous Copestake (over 14)?” says Brian Withington. “Could even have provoked the loss of quick wickets (and now Sky’s coverage) by a mysterious process of tangled quantum disturbance. In passing, young Banton looks outrageously talented (and rubber wristed).”
22nd over: England 108-5 (Denly 6, S Curran 0) England will never win anything unless they learn how to bat on slow pitches.
Banton misses a firm sweep and is given out LBW. Shamsi didn’t even bother appealing; he just ran down the wicket in celebration. Banton reviewed, presumably hoping he was outside the line. He wasn’t: it was Umpire’s Call, so England do at least keep their review. But they’ve lose their Banton.
21st over: England 106-4 (Denly 5, Banton 17) The TV picture returns just in time for us to see Banton drive Phehlukwayo sweetly down the ground for four. It’s been an eye-catching cameo, 17 from 20 balls.
19.3 overs: England 99-4 (Denly 3, Banton 12) A confident reverse sweep for four off Shamsi takes Banton into double figures.
The TV picture has gone now, so I haven’t a clue what’s happening. You’re welcome!
19th over: England 94-4 (Denly 3, Banton 7) Banton gets his first boundary, cuffing a short ball from Phehlukwayo over midwicket. Phehlukwayo responds by going past the outside edge with three consecutive deliveries, a high-class bit of bowling.
18th over: England 89-4 (Denly 3, Banton 2) Banton gets off the mark from his eighth delivery, working Shamsi for a single. England will be revising their target with each passing over. At the moment I suspect they’d be happy with 250.
17th over: England 84-4 (Denly 1, Banton 0) England’s mini-collapse - four wickets for 30 - at least means Banton has time to play himself in on his debut. We’re barely a third of the way through England’s innings.
This week’s Spin has landed, and it looks like a cracking read.
Related: The Spin | St Moritz proves there’s no business like snow business with Cricket on Ice
16th over: England 83-4 (Denly 0, Banton 0) Joe Denly and the debutant Tom Banton are the new batsmen.
Two wickets in two balls! Morgan edges the wristspinner Shamsi towards slip, where Bavuma dives to his left to take a majestic reaction catch.
Joe Root has been run out! He was rightly sent back by Morgan and was comfortably short when van der Dussen at square leg hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end with a brilliant throw.
15th over: England 82-2 (Root 16, Morgan 11) A lovely stroke from Root, who walks across his stumps to clip Phehlukwayo through midwicket for three. His low dot-ball ratio makes him the perfect man for a pitch like this, which is why that World Cup final innings was so odd.
14th over: England 74-2 (Root 11, Morgan 9) Morgan reverse sweeps Smuts for four. He top-edged the stroke but got enough on it to clear short third man. Morgan has a mixed World Cup with the bat, but his general form has been extremely good: in his last 25 ODI innings he averages 67.
“John Starbuck presents a disturbing (or just very honest) view of himself following the OBO with no kit,” says Ian Copestake. “I hope at least the curtains are drawn.”
13th over: England 66-2 (Root 9, Morgan 3) A misfield from Sipamla at mid-off turns one run into two. It’s a quiet little spell, with no boundaries (and two wickets) in the last four overs.
“Shame Malan didn’t get a game after his exploits in NZ,” says Steve Marshall. “Some players just don’t seem to have a face that fits.”
12th over: England 61-2 (Root 6, Morgan 3) Matt Parkinson will be looking forward to bowling on this pitch. England’s third-wicket pair are taking no liberties against JJ Smuts, though they do manage to milk five singles from his third over.
“‘Those missing from the World Cup final XI are Jofra Archer (elbow) and Liam Plunkett (elbowed, with nary a soupçon of sentiment), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Mark Wood (all rested)’,” says Brian, quoting today’s preamble. “Adil Rashid is soon forgotten eh?”
11th over: England 56-2 (Root 3, Morgan 1) It’s hard to know with pitches, but the early signs are that a par score is around 250. England will probably regroup for a few overs now. Root, especially, will be keen to rotate the strike and not get stuck like he did during that hideous innings in the World Cup final.
“Rob,” says John Starbuck. “It’s even more salient to realise that Baby Come Back was a cover of a May 1968 song by the Equals and I remember it being ‘performed’ on Top of the Pops, when it was No1. Also, I last played a proper game of cricket in 1982 and no longer even have my kit. Sometimes, you have to be realistic.”
Two wickets in two overs. Bairstow clunks a wide, full delivery from Phehlukwayo straight to mid-off, where the debutant Sipamla takes a tumbling catch. I suppose that was a risky shot on this sluggish pitch, but we can’t celebrate the centuries in must-win World Cup matches and bemoan the occasional misjudged stroke.
10th over: England 52-1 (Bairstow 19, Root 1) Joe Root survives a big LBW shout first ball after playing for non-existent spin. I reckon it was missing leg stump. Another effective over from Smuts, who has figures of 2-0-2-1. Not bad for a debutant non-spinning spinner in the Powerplay against the least merciful batting line-up in the world.
“Morning Rob,” says Sam Collier. “Re Thomas Atkins hopes for Tom Banton’s nickname, what are the odds that it’s actually something along the lines of EPIC BANTZ!!?? Obviously, I hope he does well enough to deserve the epithet ‘epic’, but would it really be worth it?”
JJ Smuts gets his first ODI wicket. Roy tries to swipe him over long on, doesn’t get enough on it and is comfortably caught by Reeza Hendricks. He played some eye-catching strokes, though, and his run-a-ball 32 has given England a decent start on an awkward pitch.
9th over: England 51-0 (Roy 32, Bairstow 19) The ever enthusiastic Andile Phehlukwayo comes into the attack. He’s a senior player in this new South African team, even though he’s only 23 years old. Only David Miller and the captain de Kock have more caps.
Phehlukwayo goes straight into his box of tricks with mixed results. Bairstow is beaten by a brilliant slower ball but also cuts and pulls emphatic boundaries. That brings up the usual fifty partnership with Jason Roy.
8th over: England 42-0 (Roy 31, Bairstow 11) The debutantJJ Smuts, a useful left-arm spinner, comes into the attack. England’s openers are content to give him an over while they have a look, and there’s just one run from it.
“Morning, Rob,” says Smylers. “What’s happened to David Willey? He was in England’s initial World Cup squad, missing out only to make space for Jofra Archer. Given that none of Archer, Liam Plunkett or Mark Wood are playing in this series, there clearly now is room for him, yet here he isn’t.”
7th over: England 41-0 (Roy 30, Bairstow 11) It’s probably safe to assert that Roy’s Ashes horribilis hasn’t affected his confidence. He is batting with his usual swagger, despite the slow pitch, and gets his fifth boundary with a muscular drive over mid-off off Hendricks.
The next delivery should have been his last, mind you: it stopped in the pitch, popped up off the bat in slow motion and somehow looped over the leaping van der Dussen at short midwicket. To compound South Africa’s frustration, van der Dussen landed awkwardly and has limped off for treatment. Bairstow then breaks his bat while playing a lofted drive off Hendricks. He got two runs for it; on a normal pitch it would have gone for six.
6th over: England 34-0 (Roy 25, Bairstow 9) Ngidi is feeling his way back into international cricket, nowhere near his best, and Bairstow flicks him crisply through midwicket for four.
“That depresses me re: Joe Denly being 8 when Baby Come Back came out,” says Dave Voss. “You can probably work out from my e-mail address (spoiler: it includes a year from the 1970s – ed) I was a little older at that time, yet I still identify with Joe Denly in a ‘maybe I can still make the England team despite being slightly more experienced’ kinda way. More of an impediment maybe that I’ve only played cricket twice in the last 20 years but on balance I have had a few emails published on the OBO during that time.”
5th over: England 27-0 (Roy 24, Bairstow 3) Bairstow gets to face a full over, having been starved of the strike before that. He hasn’t yet found his timing on this sluggish pitch and mistimes an attempted pull stroke straight into the ground. He has 3 from 10 balls, Roy 24 from 20.
4th over: England 25-0 (Roy 24, Bairstow 1) Roy gets his fourth boundary with a bread-and-butter clip behind square off Ngidi. And then he’s dropped by Phehlukwayo at midwicket! It was a tricky two-handed chance as he swooped forward, but at this level it should probably have been taken.
3rd over: England 19-0 (Roy 18, Bairstow 1) Jason Roy gets the party started by smacking Hendricks for three consecutive boundaries. The first two were down the ground, one each side of the stumps; the third was walloped through extra cover on the run. Scintillating stuff.
“If Tom Banton hasn’t been given the nickname ‘Pato’,” says Thomas Atkins, “then we should immediately revoke England’s World Champion status.”
2nd over: England 6-0 (Roy 5, Bairstow 1) The brilliant Lungi Ngidi, who would have played in the Test series but for a hamstring injury, shares the new ball. His first ball is a loosener that Roy slaps through extra cover for two. The whole over is very tenative, in fact, but he gets away without conceding a boundary. This pitch looks so slow.
1st over: England 1-0 (Roy 1, Bairstow 0) The early signs are that this is a slow pitch, just the way England hate it. Hendricks starts with an immaculate line to Roy, who eventually gets off the mark with a single off the fifth delivery. That’s it.
That World Cup final though, eh. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.
Our old friends Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow swagger out to the middle. The left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks will open the bowling.
“Hi Rob,” says Pete Salmon. “During the last test you named and English XI of Men Who Might Have Been. Lots of sleepless nights since then coming up with an Australian version. Which is: Matthew Elliot, Phil Hughes, Brad Hodge, Kim Hughes, Michael Bevan, David Hookes, Phil Emery, Stuart MacGill, Carl Rackemann, Shaun Tait and Bruce Reid. 12th man Jamie Siddons or Stuart Law.
“I’ve got Kim Hughes there because I truly believe that if he and Mark Waugh swapped teams we’d swap our opinions. The one who makes me most frustrated is Bevan - on two occasions I heard state cricketers talk about him in awestruck tones like lesser composers might talk about Beethoven. Absolute genius they reckoned. If he had got 20 Tests in a row I’m sure he would have sorted out the short ball problem.
Related: Recalling Duncan Spencer, the cricketer who lived fast and bowled even faster
Pre-match pluggery
Both people involved in this are great, and Pringle’s book is full of hilarious and eye-watering stories of a very different world, so this comes highly recommended. Can you recommend something that hasn’t happened yet? Whatever, don’t split hairs with me.
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“It seems a strange call that Banton comes in and isn’t given the gloves over Bairstow,” says Rich. “What’s the rationale, there?”
Bairstow’s a better keeper – I suspect it’s that simple.
South Africa de Kock (c/wk), R Hendricks, Bavuma, Smuts, van der Dussen, Miller, Phehlukwayo, B Hendricks, Ngidi, Sipamla, Shamsi.
England Roy, Bairstow (wk), Root, Morgan (c), Denly, Banton, S Curran, Woakes, T Curran, Jordan, Parkinson.
They also have two debutants: JJ Smuts and Lutho Sipamla. Eoin Morgan says England would have bowled, but he doesn’t seem too fussed.
Tom Banton and Matt Parkison will make their ODI debuts for England. Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with Banton; you soon will be. Darren Lehmann, who coached him in the Big Bash, says he is the best player he has ever thrown to in the nets.
Pre-match reading
Related: England’s world-beating cricketers are suffering the curse of nation’s gilded few | Tanya Aldred
Related: Captain Morgan goes into ODI series intent on staying for three more years
Morning. Let’s cut straight to the bit where we tell you how much time has passed since the World Cup final. It’s been 205 days since England last played an ODI: that harrowing, euphoric, unfathomable match against New Zealand at Lord’s on 14 July 2019. I don’t really understand why 50-over cricket needs to continue now that England have won the World Cup. But here we are, with a three-match series to look forward to, and an almighty hangover to avoid.
Traditionally, English sports teams don’t give very good after-the-Lord-Mayor’s-Show, and that will be the biggest challenge for Eoin Morgan before he hands over to Jos Buttler at some stage during this four-year cycle before the next World Cup in India.
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