The second ODI between England and South Africa has officially finished, with one side finally winning the series before the last match has even been played. Seeing that the Proteas are this side that came out victorious, it is massive since it’s just their 2nd series win against England in England, while they have started proving their ability to win around tense situations.
A group who recently had just beaten the mighty Aussies, their fighting spirit continued on despite Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen having been ruled out for both series. Captain Temba Bavuma has continued showing his great leadership and vocal prowess, which have helped this side slowly turn into one of the most lethal ones worldwide.
Knowing that South Africa will be more than happy and confident with this result, England are in a world of trouble as they continue losing matches in this 50/50 format. Coming off a tied test series against India, they were supposed be re-energized after a month’s break, but things haven’t seemed to go their way at all this summer.
From the fact that Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson have yet to make their return to white-ball cricket to their loss here today, they will need to change things heavily before a very tough Ashes tournament ahead of them. Led by captain Harry Brook, he did show some growth in leadership potential and helping out that batting order, but there are still a few key elements he needs to change about his approach.
South Africa: Strong Innings Propelled This Side To A Very Defendable Score
As the Proteas were forced to bat first since England won this matches toss, they fired pretty quickly and never showed any signs of slowing down. Aiden Markram opened for this side as he got close to yet another half-century, while playing a much calmer approach. Staying back and attacking any balls that were overpitched or right in his zone, this star finished with 7 combined boundaries, including 6 wonderfully crunched drives for four.
On the other end, Ryan Rickleton had started a very steady partnership where he was more of an aggressor for South Africa, as this left-handed piece scored over 30 once again. Hitting a ton of balls right in front of the bowler and behind square, it was clear that his intent was to strike after scoring 5 glorious fours.
Although he lost his wicket at 73/1, and captain Temba Bavuma was taken out right after for 6, this unit had a combination of Breetzke plus Markram going. Combining for 15 runs in the first couple balls itself, a real tension situation occurred when the opener was removed on a caught-plus-bowled by Adil Rashid. Being at 93/3, this was where the game once again tilted into South Africa’s favor after Tristan Stubbs came in. Him and Breetzke led their unit to a score well past 230 as both scored over 140 runs together.
Seeing Breetzke with his 85-run knock, this piece’s historic trend continues as he’s seemed almost impossible to get out in ODI cricket. Scoring 3 massive sixes and finding the gaps for 7 fours, Stubbs did well himself after hitting a half-century and playing more of a relaxed way. With Brevis coming in, he really went off after both of them were removed and scored a quick-fire 42 at a strike rate higher than 200. Corbin Bosch was able to add 32 at the end and help South Africa finish 330/8.
England: Improved Their Performance At The End Despite A Rough Start
For England’s bowling attack, this group had some very strong pacers and spinners towards the end after struggling to begin this day. Fast-bowler Jofra Archer was a real threat with his yorkers and pace, which allowed him to pick up four wickets, even though his economy was a little over 6.
Looking unstoppable in his last couple overs, Jofra Archer was able to remove both Senuran Muthuswamy and Keshav Maharaj in those final balls. Saqib Mahmood was also very vital to this attack as he almost picked up a couple wickets today and kept hit the same length outside the stumps. Really forcing batsmen to double-think their approach, he allowed far less than 5.8 runs per over and developed an unbelievable consistency, throughout.
The pieces that really struggled on their side were Brydon Carse, as he was easily getting on during his full spell and really couldn’t create any wicket-taking threat. Knowing that he was the third right-hander, South African batsmen dominated him with ease and really made him rethink how to continuously approach power hitters.
Currently not in a great form, two spinners in Will Jacks and Jacob Bethell weren’t successful at all either, as they gave up 10+ runs an overs, respectively, in their ten combined overs, while having a rough time aiming the ball near middle areas. On the positive side of their spin attack, Adil Rashid was fantastic with 2/33 figures and really got the ball to turn despite many pieces around him getting rocked pretty easily.
England: Batting Nearly Dominated Till The End Before Key Players Fell
Looking at England’s batsmen today, they did a tremendous job getting near the target, but couldn’t quite finish off the match. As Jamie Smith fell on the first ball, there was already a ton of pressure before Joe Root came in to attack at one-down. On a day where they had to chase one of the bigger targets, Root did try to push the run-rate with opener Ben Duckett, who fell at 14 for 33 after having another forgettable innings this series.
Leaving at 66/2, there was a massive partnership of over 80 near the middle, where Jacob Bethell really started showing what he was made of as a power-hitter. Scoring 58, he smacked three massive maximums, while including 5 fours and really became the aggressor in that partnership with Root.
Then Joe Root departed a couple overs later and England were in real pressure at 147/4 before captain Harry Brook tried saving them with Jos Butler. A duo that really planned strategically and attacked at their own will, they finished with a 69-run combination that got their side well past 200 with Brook scoring 33, while Butler got near his half-century. These two pieces combined for almost 8 boundaries before the captain was removed at 216/5.
Although Jos Butler continued smacking sixes, three in this match, and showed a base that let him hit shots in different areas, him, plus Will Jacks, could only wreak a little bit of havoc together, since Lungi Ngidi’s ball caused a clean-bowled to England’s wicketkeeper. Jacks continued trying to save them, and despite losing Brydon Carse, he continued dominating to hit 39 before Keshav Mahraj took a terrific catch. At last, when England was at 290/8, Jofra Archer tried changing the game late with two sixes, but it was not enough for them to reach their target.
South Africa: Pacers Were Supported Really Well By Pacers Throughout This Match
With South Africa’s bowling having come out in the clutch and snatching this game away, a lot of credit has to go towards many pieces that made this victory possible. Starting out, Lungi Ngidi was strong with that slower ball and bouncer ability once again as he took the most important wicket of Jos Buttler, despite allowing 71 runs in his 10 overs.
Playing through injury, it was clear Lungi Ngidi kept being a wicket-taking threat, but got unlucky for quite a bit, while Nandre Burger looked extremely elite from the left-end. Getting three people out of his own, there was a clear signal that whenever he was bowling, most hits would be either singles or doubles.
Corbin Bosch rounded that attack very well too, since he had a maiden and went for a 3.8 economy when many spinners like Aiden Markram were struggling. Talking about spinning, specifically, Senuran Muthuswamy was a key factor in today’s match with 8 economical overs, while holding it down during the final one as well. With Keshav Maharaj also taking two wickets, the way their ball turned started making it harder for England batsmen to smack consistently.
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