SA v Eng 1st ODI Review: Jos Buttler century helps England triumph by 39 runs

The rain played spoilsport today in the highly interesting first ODI between England and the hosts South Africa at the Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein. England set up a mammoth total of 399/9 in 50 overs riding on the back of a dazzling 76 balls 105 runs knock by their most reliable ODI specialist Jos Buttler. The South Africans, in reply, were in the hunt with the help of the young Quinton de Kock. The Proteas wicket-keeper batsman made an outstanding 138 runs off just 96 balls and remained unbeaten. However, rain interrupted in the 34th over and did not allow the game to commence again, wrapping up the match in favor of England who were ahead of South Africa in terms of D/L par score.

South Africa’s chase was affected by a quick blow after left-arm swing bowler removed Hashim Amla in the 3rd over. But, the South Africans looked determined as Faf du Plessis and de Kock then began to bat with the intent of the chasing down the target. Runs flowed freely off their bats which kept the required run arte at check. Both batted with equal aggression and were steering the ship in the right direction. Together they put an 110 runs stand before Faf de Plessis left to the pavilion in the 16th over after he fell to Moeen Ali.

The South Africans began to lose track from this stage of the game as wickets began to crumble. The biggest upset came in the form of de Villiers who was dismissed by Moeen Ali. It took an awe-inspiring one-handed effort from Stokes at the boundary ropes to make the Proteas limited overs giant depart.

de Kock looked gritty and kept the run flow steady from one end and brought his 9th century of the ODI career in the 25 the over. But the problem for the Proteas was the loss Duminy and Rossouw from the other end which was a huge dent to the hope of chasing down the target.

Soon, rain began to pour and the covers were brought on. The umpires waited for a good amount time before calling the match off. The par score which South Africa needed was 284 runs and they were 39 runs shot at 245/5 when it began raining. This meant a victory for the visitors by 39 runs in the series opener.

South Africa has seen big ups and down in the past few months. The Test format has been a nightmare for them while they have been successful in the colored clothing. England, on the other hand, are currently on a high they came into this series after a highly impressive show against Pakistan in UAE and went on to win the Test series against the hosts before this ODI.

Earlier, England won the toss and went in to bat. The openers Jason Roy (48 from 30 balls) and Alex Hales (57 from 47 balls) gave a breezy start to the innings. The departure of Hales in the 18th overs brought the match’s hero Buttler to the crease.

He batted along with Root (52 from 58 balls) for a brilliant 97 runs partnership to take England to a comfortable position and lay a good platform for a big total.  Buttler was the aggressor between the two as he kept vanishing the ball for fours and sixes frequently. The stand was brought to a halt by Chris Morris after he dismissed Root.

However, Buttler did not stop at all. He found a apt partner to match his aggression in Ben Stokes. The run rate shot up considerably during their presence and England went past the 300 runs quite easily. Eventually, part-timer Behardien provided the much need respite for Proteas after he managed to dismiss the haywire Buttler.His last ODI innings was the fastest hundred in England’s history, against Pakistan in Dubai more than two months ago.

Stokes (57 from 38 balls) kept going in the same manner along with Moeen Ali (19 from 15 balls) and Chris Jordan (14 from 10 balls) who added some valuable runs in final moment of the first innings to help England post a formidable target for South Africa to chase.

Brief Scores:

England: 399/9 in 50 overs (Buttler 105; Morris 3/74)

South Africa: 250/5 in 33.3 overs (Quinton de Kock 138*; Ali 3/43

Man of the Match: Quinton de Kock (South Africa)