South Africa vs. England: Winners and Losers from 2nd ODI
England have a 0-2 lead after claiming a five-wicket win over hosts South Africa in the second one-day international in Port Elizabeth.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, the Proteas had a sluggish start and managed just 262 runs in their 50 overs, something AB de Villiers thought “was about 20 runs short, but still a winning total”.
South Africa looked like they might pull off something special right up until around the 40th over, but England’s exciting brand of cricket took the game away when the pressure was piled on.
We’ve picked some winners and losers from the second ODI, add yours in the comments.
Loser: Umpire Johan Cloete
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Umpire Johan Cloete had an absolute stinker of a day out in the middle. The umpire gave several incorrect decisions—mostly ones that went against South Africa and mostly relating to leg-before calls.
JP Duminy's dismissal was possibly the most notable one of them all, with reviews showing that the ball would have been missing the leg-stump by quite some distance.
Loser: Quinton de Kock’s Reviews
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We all have bad days in the office, and in cricket, that is why the Decision Review System is so useful.
However, it’s only useful if you don’t waste your reviews. Quinton de Kock wasted two.
JP Duminy might have been saved had De Kock not reviewed his wicket up front. Sure, Hawk-Eye showed that it was just pitching in line, but such marginal calls are almost never worth reviewing.
But that wasn't the only review De Kock got wrong. In the 15th over, he insisted that he had Alex Hales caught behind and insisted on the review, even before there was time for a discussion about whether to do so.
Loser: South Africa’s Fifth Bowler
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Perhaps even more costly than South Africa's dubious reviews is their missing fifth bowler.
In a bid to lengthen their batting lineup, the Proteas currently play just four front-line bowlers. While that might make sense in T20s, it’s proved to be problematic for them in one-day cricket.
Farhaan Behardien and JP Duminy conceded over 60 runs in just 10 overs between them, and the current combination puts so much extra pressure on the front-line bowlers. That could very well prompt South Africa into including one of their more “all-rounder” types in the third ODI.
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Winner: Jos Buttler and England’s Finishing
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Despite a thrilling century in the first ODI, Jos Buttler missed out on a man-of-the-match award. He missed out again on Saturday, but he was frighteningly cool in his finishing.
With England needing 65 off 60 balls in the 40th over and Alex Hales dismissed in the 41st, some teams and players might panic. Not Buttler and Moeen Ali.
De Villiers tried to make something happen, having kept Kyle Abbott back to bowl the final few overs, but Hales took him on, hitting three consecutive fours in the 44th over to take England closer to the target and put the pressure back on South Africa.
With Abbott and Kagiso Rabada having just one over left each in the 46th over, De Villiers was forced to bring on the spinner, and that's where Buttler really went wild.
A dropped catch and three sixes meant the two in the middle only had to rotate the strike to see England home, but Ali hit two fours off Morkel in the next over instead as England sealed a pretty convincing win.
Winner: Alex Hales
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When a player gets out on 99, he usually ends up in the “losers” column, and considering the way Alex Hales got out, it would have been easy to put him there, too.
However, considering his awful Test series and the fact that he saw off South Africa’s fresh new ball bowlers to help England set a solid foundation, we’ll let him off this time. His effort earned him a man-of-the-match award, and he’s definitely one of the danger men in this limited-overs series.
Winner: South Africa's Running Between the Wickets
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If there is one positive South Africa can take out of this loss it's that their running between the wickets was pretty crafty.
Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy all timed their knocks well on a slowish track. While not having a batsman who could go on the attack from the get-go probably cost them, at least they managed to build some partnerships in this match, something that was severely lacking in the first ODI on a flat deck.
All information obtained firsthand, unless otherwise stated.
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