England suffer reality check after worst top-order collapse
Morgan’s men beaten as they slump to 20 for six Defeat hits hopes ahead of Champions Trophy
Within three weeks, England will know whether their top order is their Achilles’ heel or whether their batting collapse against South Africa – the worst of its kind in their one-day history, as they crumbled to 20 for six off the first five overs – was just a one-off to be laughed off.
It was something they could afford in a bilateral series, which they had already won, but not in a knockout match in the Champions Trophy, which starts on Thursday.
The first two one-dayers had shown up England’s vulnerability, before centuries by Eoin Morgan at Headingley and Ben Stokes at the Ageas Bowl cemented those cracks. At Lord’s, after a night of thunderstorms, it was an even more influential toss for AB de Villiers to win, and England had at best only half an answer – in Jonny Bairstow’s fifty – to South Africa’s swing bowling.
In statistical context, this was only the second time since the 2015 World Cup that England had been dismissed for below 200, while the same approach has brought them 21 totals above 300. Very occasionally, therefore, England’s fearlessness will come a cropper. The trouble is that these occasions are more liable to occur on a damp day in early season in England, the conditions in which the Champions Trophy will be contested.
Of the six who departed in those five overs, half were complicit in their dismissals. Jason Roy, Joe Root and Morgan himself were the three who received perfect swinging deliveries, either from Wayne Parnell, who brought the new ball down the slope from the Pavilion End, or Kagiso Rabada, the man of the match, from the Nursery End.
Cruising in with the smoothest of run-ups, Rabada then sucked Alex Hales, Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid into cover-drives at his outswingers. Bairstow, brought in to rest
Stokes and his left knee, showed how to play the conditions, either by leaving the ball or by getting his head in line if he did drive, but halfway through his rehabilitation he got giddy against the left-arm spin of Kesha Maharaj, as did a couple of tail-enders, leaving Toby Rolandjones unbeaten and unrivalled for his common sense on debut.
Expectations of England in the tournament which they launch on Thursday at the Kia Oval against Bangladesh have to be modified: the hosts have an exceptional hitting, rather than batting, line-up.
The sound techniques and sober heads of Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes are indispensable at seven and eight when the top order fails.
England’s vulnerability stems from having two openers who are both high-risk hitters, capable of big hundreds that have destroyed some attacks. But since Roy and Hales enjoyed a field day against Sri Lanka when they shared a worldrecord stand of 256, they have not put on fifty for the first wicket.
Roy and Sam Billings have launched England solidly with 50plus stands, so, too, Roy and James Vince, but not Roy and Hales in their last 16 attempts. A more robust top three would consist of Roy or Hales opening with Root, and Bairstow at three, but it is too late to switch. The memory of promoting Gary Ballance to No3 on the eve of the last World Cup, dropping James Taylor down the order and Ravi Bopara altogether, is too vivid a scar on Morgan’s memory. An unfruitful Indian Premier League, when Roy had to come in down the order against spin, has been followed by a total of 20 runs in the series against Ireland, and 13 against South Africa. Were he to have another failure against Bangladesh, and seen to be getting down on himself – as he used to when he misfielded for England – perhaps a change might have to be made.
Taking three South African wickets helped to ameliorate England’s collapse and raise their spirits before the end of their final dress rehearsal. Although the sun came out, it then disappeared, and Jake Ball found some seam movement under the floodlights – and the ball carried to the keeper and slips all day because of more grass, and therefore bounce, than usual at Lord’s.
David Willey might not have risked a drive on the up, with the score on 82 for six, if he had known how roughly his bowling was to be treated again, even more so than by Ireland. Hashim Amla clipped and glanced the ball if Willey swung it, and cover-drove it if he did not as he laid the foundation for their run chase with a solid 55 before falling to Roland-jones. Two quick wickets followed but South Africa cruised past their target of 153 without further loss.
By playing their strongest pace attack for the first time this series, the tourists far more closely resembled the world’s top-ranked oneday team. For England, once Stokes, Moeen and Woakes have been restored, along with Liam Plunkett and Mark Wood, it could still be all right on the night.