Upbeat England boosted with Stokes available
England beat South Africa by 72 runs in the first One-Day International of the three-match series on Wednesday, but it wasn’t yet time to get too excited, said Moeen Ali ahead of the second encounter, at Rose Bowl in Southampton on Saturday (May 27).
Part of England’s cautious approach is because this series, while important in itself, is a warm-up of sorts for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, the really big prize, and also because the last time the two teams played in a bilateral ODI series – two seasons ago – South Africa bounced back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at home. That will be on the mind of the home side as it aims to stitch up the series with one game left to play against the No. 1 ODI side in the world.
On the positive side for England, Ben Stokes has been declared fit and will be available to play. Stokes had suffered a knee injury during the first ODI at Headingley, after having bowled just two overs. He briefly left the field and though he rejoined the action, he didn’t bowl any more, with England already on course to a big win.
Stokes is fresh off an MVP performance in the Indian Premier League, though as England showed in the first ODI, it was well equipped to win even without a major contribution from him.
Moeen, another important cog in the England wheel, stepped up with an all-round show in the first ODI. His 51-ball 77 not out and 117-run stand for the sixth wicket with Eoin Morgan, who made 107 in 93 balls, helped England put the game beyond South Africa’s reach. He later took two wickets, including that of AB de Villiers.
England’s effort at Headingley, however, was not just about Morgan and Moeen. Alex Hales continued his steady form from the domestic games and the series against Ireland to make 61. In the bowling department, Chris Woakes, fresh after a fairly successful outing with Kolkata Knight Riders, led the way with returns of 4 for 38. Adil Rashid, too, chipped in with two wickets, and Liam Plunkett maintained an economy rate of 4.66 as South Africa had little to take away from the game apart from Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis’s half-centuries.
South Africa will also hope its bowlers lift themselves. Failing to adjust to the slope, Kagiso Rabada bowled three no-balls and conceded 63 in nine overs, while Imran Tahir bowled nine wicketless overs for 68 runs.
De Villiers mentioned after the match that while South Africa failed to bat to its potential, it wasn’t a cause for concern. The Champions Trophy remains the bigger deal, and de Villiers will expect all his colleagues get into their grooves in time for that.
England, meanwhile, will be focussed on building on the momentum to record its first series win over South Africa since 2013-14 and enter the Champions Trophy on a high.
Teams (from)
England: Eoin Morgan (capt), Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Sam Billings, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Jake Ball, Mark Wood, David Willey, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jonny Bairstow.
South Africa: AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Chris Morris, Dwaine Pretorius, Imran Tahir, Keshav Maharaj, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada.