In the first One-Day International at Headingley, South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj led a dominant performance, taking 4-22 as they easily defeated a struggling England side by seven wickets. England’s innings collapsed for a mere 131 runs.
After being put in to bat, England started promisingly, reaching 82-2 in the 14th over. However, a series of poor shot selections led to a dramatic collapse, with the team losing its last eight wickets for just 49 runs. While Jamie Smith was a standout with a fighting 54 off 48 balls, South African opener Aiden Markram showed the pitch was a good one for batting by smashing 86 off 55 balls. Markram and Ryan Rickelton (31 not out off 59 balls) built a commanding 121-run opening partnership in just 18.1 overs.
The second match of the three-game series is scheduled for Thursday at Lord’s, followed by three Twenty20 Internationals starting September 10.
“It wasn’t a great start to the series; just one of those bad days, and we will move on as quickly as possible,” England captain Harry Brook said. “Everyone will hold their hands up and say we had a bad day. We couldn’t get a partnership going. The ball held a little in the pitch, but they bowled really well. We need to put this performance behind us and get to London.”
England began their innings brightly, with Smith hitting back-to-back fours in the opening over. Despite Ben Duckett’s early dismissal, they seemed set to post a challenging total. The turning point came when Joe Root, appearing fatigued after a long summer, edged a tired-looking shot to wicketkeeper Rickelton, triggering the rapid downfall of the remaining wickets. Spinner Maharaj’s variations in pace then baffled the English batters, and the team was bowled out with three balls remaining in their allotted 50 overs.
England’s debutant seamer, Sonny Baker, had a tough outing, finishing with 0-76 from seven overs. Markram was particularly brutal on his bowling before he became one of spinner Adil Rashid’s three late wickets, with Rashid finishing with figures of 3-26.
“It was important to start well,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said. “We were clinical with the ball, were under pressure in the powerplay, but still managed to get wickets. With the bat, we could have been more clinical at the end, but it shouldn’t take anything away from the chase, which was led brilliantly by Aiden.”
