England 339/6 (50.0 ov)
South Africa 267 (45.0 ov)
England won by 72 runs
If this is a taste of things to come over the next month then we are in for a treat. A sunlit Headingley evening, which rendered the floodlights redundant until 8.30pm, was decorated by a one-day international that had most of the components of a cracker although a late flurry of South African wickets denied us the luxury of one vital ingredient, a thrilling finish.
In the end England, having chalked up 339 for six in the first innings of the match, won by 72 runs, a surprisingly comfortable margin given the firepower in the South African lineup. The pursuit of 340 was always going to be tricky for the visitors but it was never out of the question. In the afternoon Eoin Morgan’s 11th one-day international century, augmented by a quickfire 77 from Moeen Ali, had ensured such a stiff target.
Despite the early loss of Quinton de Kock, expertly caught off a monumental skier by Jos Buttler, South Africa coasted serenely in the first half of their pursuit – not that Hashim Amla ever seems to be straining at the crease. Amla caressed the ball to the boundary eight times while scoring 73 with Faf du Plessis, who hit 67, a capable ally. For this pair it all looked ominously easy. After 24 overs South Africa were probably favourites. In this era 340 almost qualifies as a routine target on a benign pitch.
Then Mark Wood made a crucial and intelligent intervention. He had endured a torrid time, yielding 39 runs from his first four overs, mostly against Amla, who had the exasperating habit of hitting several of his good balls for four. But now a delivery from Wood struck Amla’s left pad; the appeal was rejected but the subsequent request for a review was justified. Then in the next over the admirable Liam Plunkett found the edge of Du Plessis’s bat and at last England had a firm foothold.
But they still had to contend with AB de Villiers; no match is safe for the fielding side while he remains at the crease. He lost JP Duminy and David Miller, both of whom were caught on the legside boundary. De Villiers rallied with a succession of blistering boundaries but his confidence in his lower middle order was waning. He sought another six against Moeen but miscued and was safely caught by Plunkett.
Thereafter England proceeded to a satisfying victory, marred only by concern about the fitness of Ben Stokes, who left the field briefly and who bowled only two overs because of a sore left knee. They will not take any risks with him in Southampton on Saturday.
The old hands ensured England’s substantial total. Morgan is now the wrong side of 30 and it will not be long before he is joined on this ripe old age by Moeen. It was their sixth-wicket partnership of 117 that rescued an innings that was in danger of drifting off course after the departure of the Indian Premier League boys, Stokes and Buttler, in quick succession.
Morgan was the adroit helmsman from the 18th over. He sparkled against the spinners for a while but then attacked more discreetly after the loss of those two wickets. Even so he reached his century from only 90 balls with a whippy hook for six (the fifth of his innings) against a rusty Kagiso Rabada. He fell looking for a sixth six with only 14 balls of the innings remaining.
It is important – and a rare event – for England to go into a major tournament with their captain in form. This time, with a calculated rather than chaotic period of preparation, that seems to be the case. It makes life so much easier for the team if they do not have to keep explaining away their captain’s latest failure.
Moeen, so easily underestimated and not required for the two matches against Ireland this month, offered critical assistance to his captain. He took three sixes from an Imran Tahir over during the most skittish knock of the innings. His 77 occupied a mere 51 balls and in between the odd swish at fresh air there was some wonderfully clean hitting on the legside. In the last 10 overs England conjured 102 runs, which is good going even in the 21st century. Moeen scored 65 of those.
A couple of stats from Andy Zaltzman in the Test Match Special box: Moeen became the first English No7 to hit five sixes in an innings and this was the first time England had passed 300 against South Africa at home, not that their total was ever going to guarantee victory. This May there are no guarantees.
It was a most inviting pitch – for batsmen – yet the top order could not quite make the most of it. Jason Roy edged when driving at Wayne Parnell in the second over. Joe Root began imperiously – he is an exquisite ODI player when he does not try to hit the ball hard – but, like Alex Hales, who was just beginning to look ominous, he was frustrated to be removed by Andile Phehlukwayo.
Both Stokes and Buttler were neatly caught by David Miller, the former on the deep midwicket boundary, the latter at a cunningly stationed leg gully, to leave England 198 for five.
But Morgan and Moeen calmly restored the situation. That calmness was evident in the field later in the evening. With the most unusual exception of Stokes, who slipped and dropped a catch at long-off, whenever the ball was hit in the air the catches were coolly taken.
No comments:
Post a Comment