Wasteful Proteas brought to earth by clinical England
The strategy of bowling first backfires as South Africa's specialist players undermine their team on a difficult evening.
Proteas skipper AB de Villiers will reflect on a day where key players wasted good platforms. Photo: Philip Brown/Getty Images.
The Proteas were given two important reminders on Wednesday night after they lost the first ODI against England by 72 runs in Leeds.
Much of their success over the past eight months has been achieved by loading their side with all-rounders.
Now, in theory, it gives captain AB de Villiers a lot of bowling options.
But it also means those bowlers needs to take their chances because there isn’t an abundance of specialists available.
South Africa had England in a sticky situation at 198/5 and did well to get into that position after the home side reached 101/1 on the back of Alex Hales (61) and Joe Root’s (37) partnership.
Andile Phehlukwayo (2/59) was mainly responsible for that by bowling his variations well.
However, on a good pitch, the Proteas slacked off and paid a hefty price as England reached 339/6.
That was down to home skipper Eoin Morgan and Moeen Ali.
A stylish left-hander, Morgan led the way with a magnificent 107 off just 93 deliveries and shared a vital stand of 117 for the sixth wicket with his dynamic partner.
What made their combination so impressive is that they refused to stand back and counterattacked.
Ali was superb in whacking a 51-ball 77.
England’s eventual batting bliss highlighted another problem: if South Africa are going to rely on all-rounders, the specialists need to do their job.
But Kagiso Rabada (1/63) and Imran Tahir both experienced off-days.
South Africa will need to find a Plan B when the influential Imran Tahir, who went for 68 in nine overs, struggles as he’s been the guy that keeps things quiet and takes wickets.
Things were looking good for the Proteas when Hashim Amla (73 off 76) and Faf du Plessis (67 off 61) shared a second wicket stand of 112 before both were dismissed in quick succession.
Amla went too far across his stumps to be trapped leg before and his partner tried to flick a straight ball to leg.
Previously, the middle- and lower order would’ve made up for those mistakes but against a high-quality English combination that’s a gamble.
De Villiers (45 off 38) fought a lone battle as seamer Chris Woakes (4/38) and Ali (2/50) strangled the life out of the innings.
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