SA v ENG 2nd ODI Review: England reign supreme yet again, go 2-0 up

South Africa’s dismay at home continued today after they lost to England in the second ODI played at the St, George’s Park, Port Elizabeth. South Africa bowlers failed to contain the English batsman who played them out effectively and faced little trouble in knocking off the target of 263 set up by the Proteas.

South Africa won the toss and opted to bat first however they did not had a positive start as England quickly managed to strike the first blow to the home team after Reece Topley managed to beat the defense of Hashim Amla and get him out clean bowled. de Kock and de Plessis batted together for a brief second wicket stand of 49 runs between them before Stokes managed to bag the wicket of the former to bring another breakthrough for the visitors.

Skipper AB de Villiers walked in as a result and batted well along with du Plessis. They also had a small stand in between them but before the duo could settle down properly leg-spinner Adil Rashid broke the potentially threatening partnership. Rashid was bowling exceptionally and kept thing tight to keep the tab on the Proteas rate of run scoring.

The hosts, however, did not let the momentum shift into England’s favor. The South African strategy looked clear; it was to keep building partnerships. de Villiers and JP Duminy then forged a brilliant 107 runs stand between them to take South Africa to a comfortable position in the match. The skipper batted little cautiously today and focused on building the innings rather than going loose on the English bowlers.

Stokes was brought in as change to replace Moeen Ali. The change immediately worked as de Villiers gave away his wicket to the all-rounder just after breaking free in the last couple of overs. The subsequent over by Topley saw another well-set batsman fall. This time it was Duminy who lost his wicket at a very important stage of the match.

The South Africans really lost their way from here on and could add only 46 runs in the last 8 overs. It was a very under par performance by the Proteas middle order.

Topley (4/50) was the pick of the bowler for the visitors and was the man behind restricting South Africa in the death overs.

The target was ordinary as per current standards but England also suffered a early setback in the form of Jason Roy. But, then Alex Hales along with Root and later Eoin Morgan turned the game into England favor. Hales first stitched a cautious 97 runs stand for the third wicket before Root (38 from 64 balls) lost his wicket.

He then continued to bat well with Eoin Morgan for a brief period of time. The England skipper could not stay in the middle for long and departed in the 35th over. The stage was set for the Englishmen to give the final blow and knock off the target. However, fast bowlers Morkel and Abbott then brought the home team back into the contest after they struck two quick blows in the form of the wickets of Stokes and Hales. Hales was unfortunate to have dismissed on 99.

The contest was now in balance but England still had a firm hold as they had wickets in their hands. Last match’s hero Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali teamed up together and hammered the South Africans, hitting the required runs in a very short time. The duo seemed to be in complete hurry as the final overs of the England innings saw a barrage of sixes and fours which enabled the visitors script a wonderful victory with 5 wickets in hand and more than three overs to spare.

Brief Scores:

South Africa: 262/7 in 50 overs (AB de Villiers 73; Reece Topley 4/50)

England: 263/5 in 46.2 overs (Alex Hales 99; Kyle Abbott 3/58)

Man of the Match: Alex Hales (England)