BLOEMFONTEIN: South African pacers Sisanda Magala, Anrich Nortje, and Kagiso Rabada grabbed the Proteaus a dramatic 27-run win in the first one-day international (ODI) against England at the Mangaung Oval stadium in Bloemfontein on Friday.
The English batter seemed headed for a comfortable win as Jason Roy and Dawid Malan put on 146 runs partnership for the first wicket in the first 20 overs of England batting against South Africa’s 298 for seven.
Jason Roy went on to score a thrilling 113 off 91 balls but the follow-up batting collapsed.
South Africa pacers against England
Sisanda Magala secured the crucial breakthrough for his team when David Malan mistimed an attempted pull against a short-pitched delivery and was caught for 59 runs.
Malan was followed by the debutant Harry Brook leg before wicket without scoring.
Magala took three wickets for conceding 46 runs and was named man of the match, while fats and furious Nortje (four for 62) and Rabada (two for 46) were unstoppable as the match reached a climax.
Five of the dismissals occurred only due to short-pitched bowling.
Receiving his man of the match award, Sisanda Magala said that the pitch was a bit two-paced and it made the bouncers effective for them.
England skipper Jos Buttler
England skipper Jos Buttler said he was disappointed that his side had not maintained the aggressive intent shown by Roy and Malan in the beginning adding that the South African pacers came back really well but he thought they could have kept trying to take it on and put pressure on them.
However, despite finishing on the losing side, Jason Roy gave a befitting reply to critics who have questioned his place in the team after a poor form since he guided England to win the World Cup in 2019. He secured only one century since the World Cup, against second-tier Netherlands, and his previous eight innings had yielded him only 160 runs with a highest score of 43.
In the last match Jason Roy was in dominant form from the very first ball of his innings, reaching his fifty off 45 balls and his century off 79 deliveries. Roy hit 11 fours and four sixes in his firing innings.
Earlier Rassie van der Dussen hit a superb century to enable South Africa to post a decent and challenging total while adding 111 off 117 balls, hitting only six boundaries.
England pacer Jofra Archer was expensive in his first one-day international since September 2020, taking one wicket while conceding 81 in ten overs.
However other bowlers of England bowlers made the batsmen work hard for their runs on a slow pitch.
Left-arm pacer Sam Curran took three for 35 in nine overs, mixing up his pace and making good use of the bouncer, a trick which later worked well for the Proteas pacers.
The three-match series is part of the World Cup Super League and the recent win was a major boost for the Proteas, who have yet to earn automatic qualification for the upcoming World Cup in India to be held later this year.
