South Africa vs. England: Winners and Losers from 1st ODI
England went 0-1 up in the five-match ODI series against South Africa on Wednesday. England won by 39 runs (D/L method) after rain intervened as South Africa were in pursuit of a massive 400-run target.
Jos Buttler's 105 off 76 helped set England up for a big total while half centuries from Alex Hales, Joe Root and Ben Stokes helped add to South Africa's woes.
The Proteas bowlers struggled and their batsmen failed to prop up Quinton de Kock's career-best effort of 138 off 96 balls and paid the price for bad fielding and dodgy bowling in the end.
We've picked the winners and losers from this match; add yours in the comments.
Loser: The Outfield
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Bloemfontein is actually a ground on which bowlers don’t mind playing limited overs because it’s quite a big field.
Not this time.
The boundary ropes were brought in by about 10 metres, if not more, and even marginally bad bowling was punished. It’s becoming a bit of a cliche, but if you ever needed proof that it’s a batsman’s game, look no further than this fixture.
Winner: The Rain
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South Africa is currently in the grips of the worst drought since records began. To help those worst affected by the weather, Cricket South Africa organised a water drive during this ODI. They encouraged fans to bring drinking water to the stadium for distribution to the areas that are suffering most.
They probably didn’t have a rain-affected ODI in mind when they mentioned the water drive, but the country surely needs it.
Loser: South Africa's Opening Bowlers
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With Kagiso Rabada being rested for this fixture, there was plenty of inexperience in the South African bowling lineup.
Two of the most inexperienced bowlers—Chris Morris and Marchant de Lange—were tasked with opening the bowling, and it all went to hell in a handcart for them.
For the first three overs, England were bashing the ball around at more than 10 runs an over, and it wasn’t until the 10th over that South Africa managed to slightly stem the flow of runs.
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Winner: Ben Stokes
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There seems to be nothing Ben Stokes can't do at the moment. He chipped in with a very tidy 57 off 38 and took an extraordinary catch to dismiss AB de Villiers in this fixture.
If you haven’t seen it, you can watch it here.
Even if you have seen it, it’s worth watching again simply because it’s so completely astonishing. Fittingly, if you look closely at the advertising board behind him at the moment of the catch, it reads: "the ultimate all-rounder."
Stokes has been England's man of the tournament on this entire tour, and it seems it's going to continue throughout the limited-overs matches.
Loser: South Africa's Middle Order
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While Quinton de Kock seemed intent on chasing down the 400-run target almost single-handedly, support from the middle order was lacking.
AB de Villiers can be excused since he was dismissed by an absolutely freakish catch, but the rest of the South African batsmen were very liberal in giving their wickets away.
Even on a track that had plenty to offer for the batsmen and with boundary ropes brought in, South Africa’s batsmen just could not form any meaningful partnerships.
Winner: Imran Tahir
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Spare a thought for Imran Tahir who, despite conceding more than 70 runs, managed to keep his economy rate at just 7.10 and picked up two wickets in the process.
As an attacking legspinner, he's always going to go for a few runs, but he needs the support to build sustained pressure. He was still one of South Africa's better bowlers in conditions that had almost everything going against them.
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