England vs South Africa ODI series initiated on July 19 when both sides faced each other for a terrific encounter at Chester-le-Street. The series grabbed the attention of cricket pundits as soon as Ben Stokes announced his ODI retirement. Stokes, who has represented England in 105 One Day Internationals, announced that he will retire from the format after the first ODI. The news served as a great shock for the cricketing world as people assumed that Stokes had lots of ODI cricket left in him. Following his spectacular performance vs New Zealand in the ICC World Cup 2019 final, England won its first ODI World Cup after 44 years.
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Under the leadership of Jos Buttler, it was the second time England was going to play the ODI series. In the first assignment of Buttler as the English captain, the home side was demolished by India at home with a margin of 2-1. The captaincy of Buttler faced tremendous backlash as pundits felt that the gameplay of England cricket is downgraded after Morgan left the job. According to the experts, Buttler does not make sane choices on the field and his field placements look clueless on the ground.
Carrying the burden of expectations and criticism, Buttler looked to improve the execution in the series against South Africa. Temba Bavuma, who was named the captain of the South African ODI side, was rested against England due to an elbow injury. In the absence of Bavuma, Keshav Maharaj was named the captain of the ODI team. Before the England ODI series, South Africa was defeated by Bangladesh at home ODI series with a margin of 2-1. South Africa prepared to remove the stains put by Bangladesh in its cricketing textbook.
England vs South Africa: First ODI
South Africa Innings
South Africa batted first in the much-anticipated ODI vs England. The openers took a steady start. However, the important wicket of Quinton De Kock fell down on 19, courtesy of the terrific delivery bowled by Sam Curran. Rassie Van Der Dussen and Janneman Malan took responsibility and started stabilizing things for South Africa in the first innings. The partnership was building and both batsmen were rotating the strike to keep up the scoreboard momentum for South Africa. The 109-run partnership between Malan and Dussen ended following the fireball delivered by Liam Livingstone. However, the presence of Van Dussen on the crease fired up the scoring rate of South Africa. Dussen not only rotates the strike in an elegant way but strikes the ball hard to make sure that his team reaches a respectable total.
Aiden Markram provided spectacular support to Dussen following the departure of Malan. He batted with a strike rate of more than 100 to destroy the morale of England on the field. Both batsmen kept producing spectacular boundaries to prepare South Africa for a huge total. The 151-run partnership between Markram and Dussen was broken by Livingstone as Markram returned to the pavilion after scoring 77 runs against the host side. Heinrich Klassen tried to produce the blistering hits but soon was dismissed by Carse on 12.
The Miller Show
Then arrived David Miller who had a perfect platform to demonstrate his reputation. Dussen scored a hundred batting with a strike rate of more than 100 and received applause from the crowd for putting up a spectacular show. Miller faced only 14 balls and hit four boundaries to drag the total as much as possible. South Africa posted a total of 333 runs on the board for the England side to chase. It was a tremendously challenging total but keeping in mind the reputation of the England ODI side, anything could happen.
England Innings
The famous opening pair of England, Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy arrived at the crease making the strategy to shatter the chances of South Africa in the game. England took a promising start against South Africa in the chase. Both openers hit boundaries and took a flying start against the tourist bowlers. Jonny Bairstow in his traditional style played the shots all over the park. The England batting side was all set to chase the target after it produced the opening stand of 102 runs. South Africa decided to test the opening pair of England with the slow left-arm orthodox spin of Keshav Maharaj. The plan of bringing a Maharaj worked and the wicket of the dangerous Jason Roy was produced. South Africa kept testing England with the spin bowling and eventually got rid of Jonny Bairstow who was trapped LBW by Aiden Markram.
The South African Bowling Masterclass
The wickets of the opening pair were enough to crash the morale of the England batting side. Ben Stokes, who was playing his farewell game, did not make an impression in his final game. He returned to the pavilion after scoring only 5 runs at Chester-Le-Street. If Maharaj and Markram were not enough, South Africa brought Tabraiz Shami to deteriorate the England side completely. Shamsi dismissed the hard-hitting batsmen Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali to throw England out of the game.
From one end, the wicket was falling quickly. The other end was controlled by the steadiness of Joe Root. He was batting splendidly well against the South African bowlers. Liam Livingstone also failed to produce his enthralling show as he was dismissed by Ngidi on 10 runs only. Due to the 86-run knock of Joe Root, England put up a good fight in the England vs South Africa first ODI but it was never enough to win the match. South Africa initiated the England vs South Africa ODI series splendidly after defeating the home side by 62 runs. Do you want to find out which team has the highest number of chances of winning the ODI series? If yes, then you could go to the best online cricket sportsbook sites in the UK to know the odds.
England vs South Africa: Second ODI
England Innings
The second ODI between England and South Africa was scheduled at Old Trafford, Manchester. South Africa after winning the toss invited England to bat first in the crucial ODI. England wanted to post a huge total on the board and get its command back in the series. The host side took a blistering start scoring 49 runs in the first six overs. However, the wickets were falling quickly for England. The top order consisting of Roy, Salt, Bairstow and Root returned to the pavilion on the score of 72 runs.
Furthermore, the hard-hitters Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler failed to make any impact. Both were trapped by the South African spinners Maharaj and Shamsi in the game. England was demolished and the series defeat was on the cards for the England side. In the England vs South Africa second encounter, the English team returned to the pavilion with a total of 201 runs.
South Africa Innings
In the second innings, England needed quick wickets because the target was small. The host side expected David Willey and Reece Topley to swing the ball both ways to destroy the South African batting line-up. What next happened was a fairy tale story for the England side. Topley removed Malan and Dussen in the space of 4 deliveries to get England back in the game. The series of unexpected events did not stop for South Africa. Aiden Markram was run-out by Jos Buttler just four deliveries after Willey dismissed the backbone, Quinton De Kock. The scenes of agony were evident in the South African dressing room. The feelings of ecstasy were on display in the dressing room of England.
David Miller and Heinrich Klassen tried to put up a fight but England did not allow South Africa to settle their feet on the crease. Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali performed the remaining job by taking wickets of the South African lower-order. The England vs South Africa 2nd ODI witnessed a spectacular comeback of England which resulted in moving all eyes towards the series decider. The series was tied at 1-1 with both teams ready to show spectacularly in the final ODI. Do you want to find out the odds of South Africa winning the ICC ODI World Cup 2023? If yes, then you could go to the best online cricket sportsbook sites in the UK to find out the numbers.
England vs South Africa: Third ODI
South Africa Innings
Leeds was all set to host the much-anticipated final game between England and South Africa. However, the weather forecast of the final match was a form of concern as rainfall was expected to spoil the game. The match started with South Africa batting first against the host side at Leeds. South Africa took a promising start after scoring 114 runs on the board in 20 overs. Due to rainfall, the umpires decided to stop the play. Following the rainfall episode, the umpires decided to reduce the number of overs to 45 in the innings.
South Africa looked steady in the first innings as Quinton De Kock was batting spectacularly well on the crease. The left-handed was hitting the ball all around the park. He was batting with a phenomenal strike rate of 2o0-plus. In the light of a partnership between Aiden Markram and Quinton De Kock, South Africa targeted to post the 300+ total on the board. South Africa brought spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid to break the momentum of the set South African batsmen. The decision did not help the side of Jos Buttler because of the way De Kock bats against the spinners. However, due to rain, the game stopped and the score of South Africa was 159-2. The umpires decided to abandon the game due to the heavy rain. The series between England and South Africa drew on 1-1.
