WORLD CUP STARS BROUGHT BACK TO EARTH
England walloped in first game since World Cup glory
England’s World Cup cycle began in much the same way as their last one with a record sent tumbling. This time, though, they were on the receiving end.
In 2015, a new high one- day score of 408 against new Zealand was a statement of intent from Eoin Morgan’s team.
By contrast, the world champions were given a rude awakening yesterday as south africa hardly broke sweat in trumping the previous best chase in a one- day international on this picturesque ground.
There were 14 balls to spare when the south africans — for whom new captain Quinton de Kock was at his imperious best — raised a bar that had stood at 257 for 20 years.
de Kock forced the tourists’ toothless attack into submission with his 15th OdI hundred. Temba Bavuma was not far behind with 98, the pair of them haring between the wickets in a stand of 173 in 28 overs.
England were light with the bat in posting 258 for eight and only clambered to that mark courtesy of a career-best 87 from Joe denly and 40 towards the death from Chris Woakes. ‘We were way off the mark,’ admitted Morgan. ‘We’ve got no excuses. We lacked the adaptation and skill level needed. south africa outplayed us in all three departments.’
England have extenuating circumstances, this being a period in which they are blooding somerset batsman Tom Banton and Matt Parkinson, the lancashire leg-spinner, in a bid to expand their talent pool.
Primarily through choice, half a dozen members of the team who contributed to that heady July day at lord’s last year were missing. It should not be forgotten, though, that south africa are in transition, too. Their new faces just coped better.
Morgan hinted the second match of three on Friday in durban will not be a time to row back on their selections.
‘It’s about giving guys experience, an opportunity, time to stake their claim. We want to use the World Cup to build recognisable contenders,’ he said.
It was a surprise when de Kock opted to field after winning the toss at what is renowned as a bat-first ground. But English misery in the shadow of Table Mountain continued. It is now six defeats in six against the south africans here.
On their rise to the rankings summit, it became a habit for one of England’s top- order batsmen to convert a start. Yet just as at lord’s seven months ago, they failed, leaving their no 5 to bail them out.
The pre-match chat had been of how denly, with his career OdI strike-rate of 65.54, would somehow have to compensate for the loss of Ben stokes’s power in that position.
But a sorry demise from 51 without loss to 83 for four, as the spinners and medium-pacers proved difficult to get away, meant the 33-year- old Kent batsman could play a more natural game. One of stealth.
Things had been much more comfortable against the new ball — another OdI, another half-century stand for the firstwicket axis of Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow.
However, one of the spinners south africa sent to fat camp last week prised them apart in the 10th over. Undeterred by Roy sizing up the straight boundary, debutant Jon- Jon smuts kept throwing up his slow left-armers invitingly and was rewarded when Reeza Hendricks settled under a skyscraper strike at long- on. But it was the introduction of Tabraiz shamsi — another of those sent for conditioning work — that coincided with the crucial passage of play.
There had been a calm to the alliance of Morgan and Joe Root, necessitated when Bairstow miscued to mid-off in the over after Roy’s departure.
Calamity struck, however, when from the third ball of shamsi’s spell, Root ventured too far down the pitch in anticipation of a single and was left short at the bowler’s end as Rassie van der dussen produced a sprawling stop, rose to his knees and threw down the stumps in one motion.
later in the over, Morgan deflected a fizzing delivery into the hands of Bavuma at slip.
When shamsi then cleaned up Banton and sam Curran in quick succession, England had collapsed to 131 for six.
Thankfully, denly found a willing accomplice in Woakes, winning his 100th cap. They stabilised sufficiently for 67 runs to be struck off the final 10 overs — denly twice depositing slower- ball variations from lungi ngidi into the stands before failing to get the required distance off Beuran Hendricks.
Woakes then struck early with the new ball to dismiss the other Hendricks, Reeza.
But it proved an isolated success as south africa’s second-wicket pair of de Kock and Bavuma took their team to new heights and brought Morgan’s white- ball stars crashing back to earth.