Here’s Vic Marks’s report from Southampton:
That was a spectacular heist from England. South Africa were in control almost throughout the run-chase. They needed 10 from 10 balls yet they could only get seven singles. Eoin Morgan controlled the game with persuasive certainty, and Ball and especially Wood produced some hugely effective bowling. The upshot is that England have won the series with a match to spare, against the world’s No1 side. Tremendous stuff, and the manner of this victory bodes well for the Champions Trophy. Thanks for your company, night!
ENGLAND WIN BY TWO RUNS AND WIN THE SERIES!
Wood has another chat with Morgan, skips in to Morris, who can only slice a single! What a brilliant win for England in a wonderful game!
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49.5 overs: South Africa 327-5 (need 4 from 1 ball) A dot ball! Morris tries to pull Wood and is beaten for pace. England appeal for caught behind; that’s turned down but they will take the dot ball. South Africa need four off the last ball. They’ve scored only six from the last nine deliveries. Brilliant stuff from England.
49.4 overs: South Africa 327-5 (need 4 from 2 balls) Win or lose, this is great captaincy from Morgan. He looks so calm and in control, even though his team clearly aren’t. Wood bowls to Miller, who pulls fiercely but only for a single. Four from two needed!
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49.3 overs: South Africa 326-5 (need 5 from 3 balls) Morgan is taking his time between deliveries and looks very calm as he moves his field and chats to Wood. Miller is beaten, backing away to a short one. Dot ball.
49.2 overs: South Africa 326-5 (need 5 from 4 balls) This would be a handy time for Wood to ram a yorker through Morris. Instead he bowls short and is pulled again for one.
49.1 overs: South Africa 325-5 (need 6 from 5 balls) Mark Wood will bowl the last over. Miller pulls the first ball for one.
49th over: South Africa 324-5 (target: 331; Miller 69, Morris 34) South Africa are romping to victory now. Miller smokes a length ball from Ball back over his head for six - DON’T BOWL EFFING LENGTH - and hammers a cut for four. Ten from the first two balls of the over leave South Africa needing another ten from the last ten deliveries. They take singles from the first three of those, including a futile, tactical review from England for LBW against Miller. That means they need seven from the last over to win.
48th over: South Africa 311-5 (target: 331; Miller 58, Morris 33) Morris is completely beaten for pace and top-edges his pull for four. Wood produces another terrific over, mixing short balls and a wide yorker - but then he bowls a length ball to end the over, and Morris inevitably mauls it over mid-on for six. He is vicious when it comes to punishing good length, and that blow has made South Africa favourites again.
47th over: South Africa 298-5 (target: 331; Miller 57, Morris 23) Jake Ball is on, which suggests we won’t see Stokes again. He’s bowled just three overs in the innings, though he is struggling with his knee. Ball’s excellent over goes for nine, including a no-nonsense clump back over the bowler’s head for four by Morris. South Africa need 33 from three overs.
46th over: South Africa 289-5 (target: 331; Miller 55, Morris 16) Morris belts Plunkett between mid-off and extra cover for four, an emphatic shot from a poor delivery. He muscles the next ball high over the head of midwicket, where it teases two fielders before landing between them - and then he monsters Plunkett over midwicket for a huge six. Bloody hell, he nailed that. A bad last over for Plunkett - 14 from it - though he has had an excellent day.
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45th over: South Africa 275-5 (target: 331; Miller 54, Morris 3) Mark Wood returns, and will probably bowl out from this end. It’s a superb over, full of pace and variety, and South Africa can take only four singles.
44th over: South Africa 271-5 (target: 331; Miller 52, Morris 1) The new batsman is Chris Morris, who gives it considerable humpty. Consecutive wides from Plunkett leave South Africa needing 60 from the last six overs.
WICKET! South Africa 266-5 (Behardien c Moeen b Plunkett 17)
I’m not sure whether this is good news for England or not. Behardien mishits Plunkett to mid-off, where Moeen takes a jaunty leaping catch. That was a real struggle for Behardien, 17 from 25 balls with no boundaries.
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43rd over: South Africa 262-4 (target: 331; Miller 49, Behardien 14) Moeen has switched ends. Morgan really does trust his spinners at key moments; he could easily bowl out with Wood, Plunkett, Stokes and Ball here. It’s a very good over, too, with no boundaries and just six from it.
42nd over: South Africa 256-4 (target: 331; Miller 45, Behardien 12) Ball replaces Moeen, not in a nasty way. Miller drags a pull round the corner for four, another clever shot in what is becoming a gem of an innings. South Africa need 75 fae 48 balls.
41st over: South Africa 246-4 (target: 331; Miller 39, Behardien 9) Root continues. He is racing through his overs, the old Combined Universities trick from 1989, and it’s working well against Behardien in particular. He has nine from 17; it could be a match-losing innings. Or Miller could play a match-winning one: he reaches a long way to sweep Root hard for four and move to 39 from 27.
40th over: South Africa 238-4 (target: 331; Miller 32, Behardien 8) Miller charges Moeen, gets an inside edge and is happy to see it deflect past both the stumps and Jos Buttler. South Africa have no choice to take such risks now - they need 93 from the last 10 overs.
39th over: South Africa 231-4 (target: 331; Miller 27, Behardien 5) Miller sweeps Root hard for four, an excellent shot. Behardien is nowhere near as fluent, at least not yet, and England are doing everything they can to keep him on stroke. He has five from 11 balls, Miller 28 from 21.
38th over: South Africa 224-4 (target: 331; Miller 23, Behardien 3) Miller is an excellent finisher and the key man for South Africa now, perhaps along with Chris Morris. He shows his class with a stunning six over extra cover off Moeen. What a shot that was! Ten from the over, a good one for South Africa.
37th over: South Africa 214-4 (Miller 15, Behardien 1) Joe Root comes on for a bowl. Behardien gets off the mark with a dicey single, one of only three from the over. England will take that all day.
36th over: South Africa 211-4 (Miller 13, Behardien 0) That was the last ball over the over. South Africa need 120 from 14 overs.
WICKET! South Africa 211-4 (de Kock c Buttler b Moeen 98)
Quinton de Kock falls two short of a hundred! He pushed almost quizzically at a slower delivery from Moeen that turned to take a thin edge before it was smartly caught by Buttler. That’s another extremely timely wicket for England. de Kock played beautifully and deserved a hundred.
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35th over: South Africa 204-3 (de Kock 97, Miller 6) Miller edges Plunkett fractionally short of Root at slip. Another good over from Plunkett, whose spell has given England a puncher’s chance of winning the match. South Africa need 127 from 90 balls.
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34th over: South Africa 199-3 (de Kock 96, Miller 3) Moeen returns in place of Jake Ball. De Kock, who was relatively quiet while de Villiers was at the crease, takes charge again with a lofted straight drive for four.
33rd over: South Africa 191-3 (de Kock 89, Miller 1) Plunkett is having a fine year in ODI cricket, with 19 wickets at an average of 19. Rory Bremner would surely approve.
WICKET! South Africa 189-3 (de Villiers c Buttler b Plunkett 52)
Brilliant bowling from Liam Plunkett! He rammed in a short ball that followed de Villiers as he tried to limbo dance out of the way, and it kissed the glove on its way through to the keeper Buttler. A huge wicket, splendidly earned by the increasingly impressive Plunkett.
32nd over: South Africa 187-2 (de Kock 88, de Villiers 52) A shortish delivery from Ball is flashed majestically over midwicket for four by de Villiers. That’s awesome batting. A single takes him to a marvellously accomplished 48-ball fifty.
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31st over: South Africa 178-2 (de Kock 86, de Villiers 45) Plunkett on, Wood off. England have not bowled badly today, but this innings has shown the limitations of their attack. They have variety, which hasn’t always been the case with England, but they aren’t top-quality. They may still win this match, mind you; South Africa’s required rate is above eight an over now.
30th over: South Africa 174-2 (de Kock 85, de Villiers 42) De Kock misses an almighty yahoo across the line at Ball and is then hit on the glove by a good delivery that follows him. Only two from the over, Ball’s best of the innings. South Africa need 157 from the last 20 overs.
29th over: South Africa 172-2 (de Kock 84, de Villiers 41) South Africa are taking very few risks against Wood. They know that if they survive this spell without losing a wicket, they should win the match. Wood’s economy is excellent (7-0-29-0), but that alone won’t win this game.
28th over: South Africa 167-2 (de Kock 83, de Villiers 38) Ball replaces Rashid (6-0-41-0) and is flashed through backward point for four by the formidable de Villiers. He has 38 from 35 balls, de Kock 83 from 84. England are in trouble here. South Africa need 164 from 22 overs.
27th over: South Africa 160-2 (de Kock 81, de Villiers 33) With the game threatening to slip away, Eoin Morgan turns to Mark Wood. A wicket here would be so timely. He hurries one through de Villiers, who inside-edges an attempted clip for four. That could easily have been out. Another good over from Wood, who has been excellent today.
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26th over: South Africa 155-2 (de Kock 81, de Villiers 29)
25th over: South Africa 147-2 (de Kock 75, de Villiers 27) De Kock swaggers down the track to clip Moeen wide of mid-on for four, a beautiful stroke. He is a serious player, this lad, as England know from the last series between the sides. AB de Villiers then skips back in his crease to flog Moeen over mid-off for four. That unusual and brilliant stroke brings up an extremely good fifty partnership. England need a wicket.
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24th over: South Africa 136-2 (de Kock 70, de Villiers 21) De Villiers cracks Rashid just short of Morgan at extra cover before chipping delightfully over the same fielder for four. He is playing with ominous purpose.
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23rd over: South Africa 131-2 (de Kock 70, de Villiers 16) De Kock runs down the track at Moeen, flicking him wide of short fine leg for two. This part have been really busy, with very few dot balls in their burgeoning partnership.
22nd over: South Africa 125-2 (de Kock 67, de Villiers 13) Nobody other than Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have scored more ODI hundreds before their 25th birthday than de Kock, who turns 25 in December. He has 12 and looks good for a 13th here. South Africa are going very well, though a lot depends on this pair and the next man David Miller - after that their batting is dangerous but not especially substantial.
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21st over: South Africa 119-2 (de Kock 63, de Villiers 12) Moeen, who has had a tremendous series so far, replaces Plunkett. Five runs from a forgettable over.
20th over: South Africa 114-2 (de Kock 61, de Villiers 9) De Villiers makes room to steer Rashid for four. South Africa have played him well so far, taking him for seven an over without recourse to the long handle. I would actually make Rashid England’s Test spinner ahead of Moeen. That’s not going to happen, however, and with no subcontinent trips coming up he knows this format is his best chance of glory with England.
19th over: South Africa 107-2 (de Kock 59, de Villiers 4) De Kock pushes Plunkett down the ground for four; then he’s beaten by a good off-cutter. South Africa really need a partnership from these two.
“Could we please have a shout-out for my step-grandad Norman who’s at the game today?” says Louis Osman. “He’s 92 and his last live international match was Bradman’s last Test in 1948!”
Oh that’s tremendous. It’s almost as long as Martin Bicknell had to wait for an England recall.
18th over: South Africa 100-2 (de Kock 53, de Villiers 3) A quiet over from Rashid, with South Africa content to milk him for five singles. They need 231 from 32 overs.
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17th over: South Africa 95-2 (de Kock 50, de Villiers 1) The new batsman is AB de Villiers. While we’re on the subject of good writing (the earlier Cricket Monthly tweet, not the previous, admittedly exhilarating sentence), this is a terrific piece from Pranay Sanklecha - and an extremely worth cause, too. Meanwhile, de Kock brings up an excellent, run-a-ball fifty.
WICKET! South Africa 93-2 (du Plessis c Buttler b Plunkett 16)
This is a really good wicket for England. du Plessis tries to steer Plunkett to third man and gets the thinnest edge through to Buttler.
16th over: South Africa 93-1 (de Kock 49, du Plessis 16) Rashid comes into the attack, a big moment in any match. His performance often influences the result: when England win an ODI he averages 26, when they lose he averages 52. His third ball is too short and cuffed over midwicket for four by du Plessis.
15th over: South Africa 84-1 (de Kock 47, du Plessis 9) A misfield from Hales at deep backward square leg gives de Kock a boundary off Plunkett. The required rate is above seven now; or rather it was, until de Kock timed another boundary through midwicket. He is some player. It’s not only Frank TJ Mackie’s disciples who respect de Kock. Sorry.
“That England kit is truly ugly,” writes Jess Cartn- Dave Adams. “If you’re designing a new kit, how do you get to dark blue with a few pink bits and think to yourself, ‘Yep. Nailed it’? Worst England ODI kit ever. Still, at least the players wearing it are half decent.”
Talking of England’s ODI kits, I’d love to have a transcript of the Gaffer’s internal monologue during this publicity stunt. Christ, who knew 1999 would look so quaint.
14th over: South Africa 76-1 (de Kock 39, du Plessis 9) De Kock crunches Stokes through midwicket for four, a very classy stroke that was edibly placed. Stokes continues to limp through his overs.
“Delicious placement,” says Gary Naylor. Meanwhile, this is a lovely read, including a cracking piece from our old friend Lord Selvey.
'If you give me out lbw, I'll wrap this bloody bat around your head.'https://t.co/XDGBXyhRtd
— The Cricket Monthly (@cricketmonthly) May 27, 2017
13th over: South Africa 69-1 (de Kock 34, du Plessis 9) Plunkett surprises du Plessis with a good bouncer that beats his hook stroke. Du Plessis surprises nobody by timing Plunkett through mid-on, a lovely stroke that brings the first boundary in five overs.
“Not wishing to kick a man when he is down (as I prefer to do that when he is not looking),” says Ian Copestake, “but Ball seems to have confirmed the suspicions of those who wonder why he is in contention.”
I was a bit surprised he was chosen ahead of Finn, though I do think he’s an excellent bowler. He’ll be so chuffed about that.
12th over: South Africa 62-1 (de Kock 33, du Plessis 3) Stokes pins du Plessis in a place where no man should ever be pinned, box or no box. As ever he is making things happen, even though he is clearly not fully fit. England have put the brakes on here, with 12 runs and a wicket from the last four overs.
Liam Plunkett looks like a Dalston barman.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) May 27, 2017
It can’t be long before hipster cricket becomes a thing. People swanning around east London in original West Indies coral WSC kits, wearing WG beards and using a Stuart Surridge to play an impromptu air guitar set in the corner of their local, The Strokeless Tavare.
11th over; South Africa 60-1 (de Kock 32, du Plessis 2) Liam Plunkett replaces Mark Wood, who bowled a terrific spell of 5-0-19-0. A quiet over, four singles from it.
“How can the placement of a ball on the cricket field be ‘literally delicious’?” says David Beckett. “Asking for a friend.”
You’ve never had a placement jus before? I feel sorry for you.
10th over; South Africa 56-1 (de Kock 30, du Plessis 0) Stokes is still struggling with that knee, and the physio came on after the wicket. It does seem like a weird, unnecessary risk that England are taking so close to the Champions Trophy.
“Are Jake Ball’s figures the result of some poor bowling or is that he is up against two quality batsmen and is getting a bit of tap?” asks Lee Smith. “Does he need some of Mark Wood’s wild horses?”
Yeah he hasn’t bowled particularly badly – that kind of tap is inescapable these days.
WICKET! South Africa 56-1 (Amla c Morgan b Stokes 23)
Ben Stokes, who was dropped first and second ball when he batted, now drops de Kock off his first ball. De Kock hammered a tennis shot back towards Stokes, who stuck out his right hand in his follow through but could not hold on to a very difficult chance. did well to get a hand on it, in truth.
No matter, because Stokes strikes later in the over! Amla chases a wide one and blasts it low towards extra cover, where Morgan takes an excellent low catch.
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9th over: South Africa 53-0 (de Kock 28, Amla 23) Wood zips another one through de Kock’s vigorous pull stroke. This has been an excellent spell from Wood, and the next ball rams into de Kock’s stomach as he again goes for the pull. Terrific over, that.
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8th over: South Africa 50-0 (de Kock 27, Amla 22) Amla plays a beautiful stroke, working Ball through midwicket for four. The placement was literally delicious. He survives a run-out referral next ball, with Hales hitting direct from mid-off. Amla judged the run well and was home. A smooth pull for four by de Kock and a suicidal single - Amla would have been miles out had Morgan hit from cover instead of throwing miles wide of the stumps - makes it ten from the over. Ball’s figures are not the kind to boast about: 4-0-32-0.
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7th over: South Africa 40-0 (de Kock 22, Amla 17) Wood is bowling nicely here. De Kock shows respect for Wood’s pace by aborting a hook stroke. Wood is the wildcard of this attack - both wild and a bit of a card, as students of imaginary horses will know. Five from the over. Both teams will be happy enough with their start, though England would not look a wicket maiden in the mouth.
6th over: South Africa 35-0 (de Kock 20, Amla 14) De Kock accepts a bit of width from Ball, muscling a cut stroke for four more. Ball replies with a good bouncer that hurries on to take the top edge of de Kock’s attempted pull stroke before flying over the keeper for another boundary. Both these openers know how to get big hundreds, and will be aiming to bat through for 170-odd not out. They really are a brilliant opening pair; indeed they are about to become the most productive opening partnership in South Africa’s history.
5th over: South Africa 24-0 (de Kock 12, Amla 12) A beautiful bouncer from Wood follows Amla and smashes into the grille as he tries to jerk his head out of the way like Robin Smith. He will need treatment, though he seems fine. Such aggressive bowling is good to see, and later in the over he beats de Kock outside off stump. As ODI scores get higher, so wickets become ever more important. Nip it in the bud, like Tony Soprano did with Feech. I suspect that, in the next few years, we will see more close catchers at key points in the innings.
4th over: South Africa 22-0 (de Kock 11, Amla 11) Amla keeps up the boundary-an-over pattern, drilling Ball down the ground in the languid style.
“Who’s winning?” asks Gary Naylor. “Given their selection, I suspect the South Africans would have settled for chasing 331 - and I suspect England are pleased with their effort too. I have AB’s boys slight favourites at the moment - especially if the sun stays out.”
Yep, I’d agree. This, I have concluded, is the best thing about cricket, especially Test cricket: half the time you don’t even know who’s winning. It’s interpretive sport.
3rd over: South Africa 16-0 (de Kock 10, Amla 6) Wood is bowling very straight to Amla, having dismissed him LBW on Wednesday. Amla takes a risky single to cover, with Morgan’s throw just missing the stumps. I think Amla would have been home anyway. The next ball is full, wide and driven sweetly to the cover boundary by de Kock. A good start for South Africa, with a boundary in each over.
2nd over: South Africa 11-0 (de Kock 6, Amla 5) Jake Ball, in for the injured Woakes, will share the new ball. It’s a glorious afternoon in Hampshire, perfect for batting. Ball is cut for four by de Kock - in the air but safe - and responds with a cracking lifter that beats de Kock’s flash outside off stump. Six from the over.
1st over: South Africa 5-0 (de Kock 1, Amla 4) South Africa have probably the best top four in world cricket - de Kock, Amla, du Plessis and de Villiers. The sooner England have them three down, the better. Amla tickles his first ball, from Wood, to fine leg for four. He has, in his usual quiet way, been one of the greatest ODI openers of all time.
It took Ben Stokes a long time to work out how to bat in ODI cricket, but he’s sure done so now. When he returned to the side after injury last summer, he averaged 21 after five years in and out of the side. Since then he has an average of 57 and a strike rate of 109. Any player in history would be happy with those numbers.
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Hello folks. England scored 330 in a one-day international today. Nobody will be holding page 47, never mind the front page; it’s just a normal day at the office for this formidable batting side. South Africa’s strength is also their batting, and they will have legitimate hopes of chasing 331 this afternoon. If they don’t, England will have won the series with a match to spare.
A big score for an unbeaten Buttler, a century for an apparently injury-free Stokes: short of some more runs for Roy, England couldn’t have asked for much more. South Africa on the other hand could: their fielding was often slapdash, their catching clumsy, and they end up chasing a target just nine short of the one they missed by a distance at Headingley. Rob Smyth will be with you shortly for the tourists’ response.
Now this is impressive:
Eng ODI totals in 2017
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) May 27, 2017
350/7
366/8+
321/8
296/6
226/6+
328
127/3+
328/6
339/6
330/6
Ave total: 301
Ave total : 327 (batg1st)#EngvSA
+Batg2
50th over: England 330-6
The first ball is straight into the Moeen’s hitting zone, and he barely has to move his feet before heaving it over extra cover. The next is swished over midwicket, bouncing once before reaching the rope. A slower ball though befuddles the batsman, who only gets a single. This brings Buttler onto strike, and he gets a massive top-edge to his attempted pull, De Kock sprinting back but not reaching it before it landed. So Buttler ends the innings on 65* and Moeen will face the final delivery, which he heaves it wildly into the sky, whence it drops into De Kock’s gloves for a last-ball WICKET! Ali c De Kock b Phehlukwayo 33
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49th over: England 318-5 (Buttler 62, Moeen 24) Rabada’s final over brings perhaps the most eyecatching display of poor fielding from South Africa today, one of many. Moeen top-edges the ball towards Amla at fine leg, and he watches it, takes a few steps back, brings up his hands, and then falls over for no apparent reason, the ball bouncing off a hand, into the ground and over t he rope. Rabada has been the best bowler by a distance here, going for 50 runs despite misfields and somesuch. Moeen is on strike for the final over, which will be bowled by Phehlukwayo.
48th over: England 306-5 (Buttler 59, Moeen 16) Morris’s final over sees Buttler reach his half-century with a ramp, Rabada doing very well to stop it reaching the rope. Various cricket writers get quite excited by this development. Then England reach their collective triple-century, Buttler fetching a ball that was bouncing past his right shoulder and convincing it to go through midwicket instead, which really he had no right to do. There are decent patches of blue poking through the grey clouds now, and many spectators have donned sunglasses: it looks like the umpires will be leaving their supplementary second coats in the dressing rooms after lunch.
Of all the exciting talents in this England ODI side Jos Buttler is easily the most extraordinary....back in the runs ahead of Champs Trophy
— Paul Newman (@Paul_NewmanDM) May 27, 2017
Statement of intent here from Buttler. He is back and another vital cog clicks into place for England ahead of C Trophy
— Nick Hoult (@NHoultCricket) May 27, 2017
47th over: England 292-5 (Buttler 49, Moeen 13) So Buttler hit one boundary off his first 38 deliveries, and then four from his next five. Phehlukwayo and Pretorius - who only bowled two deliveries at Buttler today - look like South Africa’s middle-overs weak links. Rabada, though, is doing the hard work for them: that’s a fine over, and England add but three to their total.
46th over: England 289-5 (Buttler 48, Moeen 12) Phehlukwayo’s first ball is wide, a bit short, and thwumped over a leaping, grasping but distant fielder at point by Moeen. His third is short, straight and slow, and Buttler nails it through midwicket, and the next is wumped off his ankles. All reach the rope, and the best is still to come: Buttler’s reverse-swipe-cum-switch-hit scoop off the fifth, also for four. A wide later, Buttler hooks the final ball for another four, making that a 22-run over. Ouch.
45th over: England 267-5 (Buttler 32, Moeen 8) An over of nearlies and not-quites, but five from it. “Simon, You have to go carefully when discussing pies, because, like bread products, taste is so local,” notes John Starbuck. “I recall being very surprised at the quality of pies in Merseyside and South Lancashire (including white puddings), which i thought greatly inferior to those of the East Midlands. I got another shock on moving to Yorkshire and discovered the pork pies made locally, and sold by Morrisons, were labelled Vale of Mowbray. Talk about attempting to pass off! There actually is a place called Mowbray near Bradford, but the pies are rubbish compared to Pork Farms pies and the genuinely Melton Mowbray stuff. This is because the local water used to build the pastry differs so much across the country. The same applies to beer and cheese.” That is veering dangerously close to genuine pastry-connoisseurship.
44th over: England 261-5 (Buttler 30, Moeen 4) A fine diving stop from Morris turns a Buttler boundary into a two, and then a reverse sweep gets another fielder flinging himself about. Midway through the over Moeen gets his first taste of action, and he slaps his first ball through the covers for four. “We are getting dangerously near one of the most divisive of topics; whether those awful stews with a pastry top you get in pubs are counted as pies,” writes Dave Brown. “According to psychopaths they are.”
WICKET! Stokes c Miller b Maharaj 101 (England 252-5)
Another heave from Stokes, but this time he gets nowhere near enough on it, and Miller at long off takes a straightforward catch, some way from the rope.
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43rd over: England 251-4 (Stokes 101, Buttler 24) Morris returns, and Stokes welcomes him in brutal style, boshing the first delivery back over his head for six. A dot later he sends the ball to midwicket for a couple, thus completing his century, off 77 deliveries. He’s ridden his luck, edged a few, been dropped a couple of times (and that was just from the first couple of balls he faced), but it’s not so bad for a man with one leg.
@Simon_Burnton Pastry Roof headlined the first Glastonbury didn't they?
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) May 27, 2017
42nd over: England 241-4 (Stokes 92, Buttler 23) Stokes is turning up the power now, absolutely smashing the ball over the covers for four. And that’s Pretorius’s 10th over completed, with no maidens, one wicket (and a run out) and 61 runs, which isn’t as bad as it threatened to be from a South African perspective.
41st over: England 231-4 (Stokes 85, Buttler 20) Buttler, after scooping the first ball of the over away for four, hits the second straight to De Villiers at cover, who dives, rises and flings at the bowler’s end, hitting the running Buttler in the calf. While he hops about in agony Phehlukwayo bowls again, Stokes slams through midwicket and the fielder at the rope lets it slip through his hands. “I’m not convinced that is a pizza pie; that looks like a quiche to me,” insists Tom Van der Gucht. “Surely a pie, technically speaking, needs a pastry roof? Otherwise it’s slipping into vol-au-vent territory? Not that I have any problems with quiches or val-au-vents - nor sausage rolls and pasties for that matter, as my my waistline silhouette would suggest.” A pie cannot be confused with a vol-au-vent unless it’s been miniaturised, surely?
40th over: England 219-4 (Stokes 79, Buttler 14) Pretorius returns, and Stokes leans back and improvises a reverse-thingamy. The ball loops into the air, but just over backward point and away for four. The next he chips towards mid off, again in the air, and he gets away with that one too. Into the final 10 overs, then.
39th over: England 210-4 (Stokes 71, Buttler 13) Phehlukwayo bowls and the batsmen take turns mistiming significant swings, and in the end score a couple of singles. Stokes decides it’s his bat’s fault, and calls for a bat doctor to bring out some tape.
38th over: England 208-4 (Stokes 70, Buttler 12) Maharaj bowls and England reach 200 with a couple of singles. They keep on going, scoring a three more singles and then a four off the last, bludgeoned down the ground by Stokes.
37th over: England 199-4 (Stokes 64, Buttler 9) Just the two singles from the over. If Root was unlucky to get out, Buttler’s just made the fluke score 1-1.
I think the umpire gets "credit" for that review, as his decision was not overturned, but it was certainly an umpiring error @Simon_Burnton
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) May 27, 2017
Not out! Buttler survives by a smidge!
It takes an absolute age to get ball tracker going, conjuring images of someone in the basement yanking on a pull cord and the motor refusing to start. Eventually it gets going, and we find out that the ball would have hit leg stump pretty emphatically, but not quite emphatically enough to overturn the on-field decision!
REVIEW! Is Buttler out lbw here?
South Africa think so, but the umpire did not. Up we go to the TV umpire...
36th over: England 197-4 (Stokes 63, Buttler 8) After a Buttler single, Stokes hits successive indentikit boundaries to cow corner, down on one knee and giving it the big heave. Then South Africa switch their fielders around and he has to stop.
35th over: England 185-4 (Stokes 53, Buttler 6) Three singles, a two and a wide, and a lot more grouching about the ball, during Rabada’s latest over. Meanwhile, I’ve now looked at a lot of Instagram pictures of pizzas and this is the only one that also looked like a pie:
34th over: England 179-4 (Stokes 52, Buttler 2) Since he scored three successive half-centuries last year, Buttler’s ODI efforts have brought 25, 31, 10, 11, 14, 0, 7 and 7. If there’s one man England will want to have fun in these last two Champions Trophy warm-ups, it is surely him. Before the over there’s a lengthy delay while the umpires examine the ball and have a chat with AB de Villiers, who doesn’t seem to be liking what he’s hearing, but they eventually play on with the same nugget.
“Further to Tom’s pie confusion, I’ve always wondered why in Somewhere over the Rainbow, listeners are encouraged to ‘weigh a pie’,” muses Andrew Benton. “No details of the type of pie, nor the purpose of this process are given in the lyrics, though it must be related somehow to the blue skies that apparently exist beyond the rainbow. Perhaps pies are easier to weigh on sunny days?”
33rd over: England 175-4 (Stokes 50, Buttler 0) After a lengthy drinks break play resumes, Rabada bowls, Stokes edges and the ball flies over Amla at slip and away for four. The next is emphatically middled, boshed back down the ground for four more. A single then takes him to his half-century, and Morgan onto strike.
GOT HIM! @KagisoRabada25 strikes! Morgan misses out on his 50, he's caught behind on 45. ENG 175/4 (32.5 ovs) #ProteaFire #ENGvSA pic.twitter.com/9gg3zVJrAl
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) May 27, 2017
WICKET! Morgan c De Kock b Rabada 45 (England 176-4)
England lose their captain, who top-edges the ball low into the keeper’s gloves!
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32nd over: England 166-3 (Morgan 45, Stokes 41) Maharaj is back, and runs trickle in ones and twos. “I bet you can get a pizza pie in Wigan,” says Phil Sawyer. “Any town that invents the pie barm knows a thing or two about pastry products.” That raises the irresistible possibility of a pizza pie sandwich (OBOer drools onto keyboard).
31st over: England 160-3 (Morgan 40, Stokes 40) Rabada’s back. South Africa would have seen the morning rain, the lingering thick cloud and the breeze and been dreaming of wild swing, but they have hardly made the ball deviate at all. Rabada at least gives batsmen some fairly extreme pace to think about. Point of information from Iain Noble: “Americans, especially New Yorkers, commonly refer to a whole pizza, thick, thin or otherwise, as a ‘pie’ to distinguish it from a ‘slice’.”
30th over: England 154-3 (Morgan 38, Stokes 37) There have been a lot of not-quite-off-the-middle ball-on-bat noises today, but the way Stokes hits Morris’s first delivery absolutely makes it absolutely sing. Sadly it sings its way straight to a fielder, and he gets but a single. The next ball he faces however gets the full treatment, Stokes swinging straight through it and sending it screaming high into the stands.
29th over: England 145-3 (Morgan 37, Stokes 30) Another Morgan four, this one worked fine off his hip.
28th over: England 137-3 (Morgan 31, Stokes 29) Morris tries a slower ball, but Morgan spots it, waits and sends it away for four. “I’ve never been too sure of the lyrics of That’s Amore,” writes Tom. “Is it ‘big pizza pie’ or ‘big piece of pie’? I’ve bever had a pizza pie, although it sounds like the sort of thing Shane Warne used to enjoy in the days before Liz Hurley got him counting the calories.” I don’t think a pizza pie refers to an actual pizza in a pastry crust, but to an American-style thick and doughy-style creation. However, I think a pastry pizza pie would go down pretty well it certain parts of the country. After all, you can get occasionally find them battered and fried, which must rank roughly similarly on both nutritional and absolute-gastronomic-crime scales.
27th over: England 132-3 (Morgan 26, Stokes 29) There’s a short delay before Phehlukwayo bowls, because one of the umpires is a bit chilly and wants another coat. The batsmen are gradually warming up too: Stokes heaves the ball over midwicket and it lands a couple of feet over the rope for six!
26th over: England 124-3 (Morgan 25, Stokes 22) Chris Morris is back, and Morgan licks his lips and swings his bat at a wide one which he misses by some distance. Perhaps frustration at missing out there contributed to the batsmen taking a much-too-sharp single off the next delivery, from which Morgan would have been run out by a distance had Miller hit the stumps from not too far away.
25th over: England 120-3 (Morgan 23, Stokes 21) The gloves are off! I mean, De Kock’s glove is literally off, because he’s just been hit in the hand by a Morgan edge and it’s a bit sore. It counts as another drop, but there was no way he was catching that, given how close he is to the batsman and how fast the ball was travelling. “Don’t know about the title,” writes Damian Clarke, “but a line in That’s Amore goes ‘Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay, tippy-tippy-tay/Like a gay tarantella’. Which on initial reading got me thinking about the sexuality of big hairy spiders.”
24th over: England 117-3 (Morgan 22, Stokes 19) An over bookended by boundaries from Stokes. The first is pretty smart, sent high and straight, the second is a pretty severe mishit. Still, they all count.
23rd over: England 109-3 (Morgan 22, Stokes 11) Phehlukwayo’s first delivery is send thundering wide of mid-off by Morgan for four, but after that it’s just a couple of singles. England are still pootering rather than full-throttle motoring, but are not far off where they were at this stage in the first ODI (13 runs short, to be precise).
22nd over: England 103-3 (Morgan 17, Stokes 10) Pretorius bowls his seventh over, and Morgan has a go at taking out another team-mate, hitting another straight drive that would probably have hit the stumps had the bowler just poked it rather than trying to stop it. It looked like Stokes had learned from Root’s misfortune, though, as he was still very much in home base. De Kock is standing up to the stumps both to Pretorius and Phehlukwayo.
Old fashioned jackrussellesque aggressive wicket-keeping from Quinton de Kock pinning England back in both senses @Simon_Burnton
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) May 27, 2017
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21st over: England 101-3 (Morgan 16, Stokes 9) Andile Phehlukwayo bowls his first over, and it brings five dots and a leg bye.
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20th over: England 100-3 (Morgan 16, Stokes 9) England reach triple figures in slightly uncertain style, Stokes having a heave at a ball that misses his bat and hits his front pad and his back pad on its way through. Pretorius appeals loudly, but the umpire has heard two sounds and assumes there was therefore some bat involved. England’s resulting run is therefore not a leg bye, but the bat wasn’t involved in any way. Still, ball tracking shows it would have missed the stumps anyway, so no harm.
19th over: England 98-3 (Morgan 15, Stokes 8) “It seems Pretorius can take wickets after all,” deduces John Starbuck. “Doesn’t matter how, so long as they go. Incidentally, the Dean Martin song That’s amore has lots of applications: pointing out a firth on the Scottish east coast; sighting a mighty specimen of an eel at the fishmonger; commenting on Bobby Zamora’s efforts at goal-scoring etc. OBO readers can probably think of more.” So you know what John wants from you, and that’s some more, eh?
18th over: England 93-3 (Morgan 11, Stokes 7) A relatively drama-free over from Pretorius, with a hint of a half-appeal for lbw against Stokes, which isn’t very confident and results in nothing but a couple of leg byes.
17th over: England 88-3 (Morgan 9, Stokes 6) Another drop! Maharaj bowls, Stokes edges it and the ball flies just high of the static hands of Amla at slip! And then he’s dropped again! Another edge, this one popping out of De Kock’s gloves! And then he edges another! This time it goes wide of both keeper and slip and brings a couple of runs. That’s fine bowling, and Stokes is pretty lucky to still be in the middle.
16th over: England 82-3 (Morgan 9, Stokes 0) Root was looking in fabulous shape and all set for some proper fun, but alas ‘twas not to be. Ben Stokes comes in and, about 30 seconds later, starts waving at the England balcony. Happily it’s not his knee that’s troubling him, it’s his gloves. He needs a new one already. What could possibly have gone wrong with his first pair so quickly?
Pretorious' delivery to dismiss Hales was his second slowest of the day (119.77kph) but bounced more than any other (103cm). #EngvSA
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) May 27, 2017
WICKET! Root is run out! England 80-3
Morgan drives straight, Pretorius gets the finest fingertip on the ball and it clatters into the stumps at the bowler’s end with Root out of his crease and thus done for! That is just rum bad luck and should be excluded from his averages for the sake of fairness.
15th over: England 78-2 (Root 38, Morgan 6) In which Root paddles Maharaj’s first delivery gently over his shoulder for a single, with the fielder at backward square leg not far away from getting round to catch it. Some more singles follow. “In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking,” notes Phil Sawyer. “Now, apparently, shoehorning references to old crooners into the OBO is acceptable. Anything goes, I guess. Incidentally 33-1 after nine overs? It’s just like watching, erm, England. Old England, obviously. Not All New All Different Exciting Brand Of Cricket England. I’m feeling all nostalgic.”
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14th over: England 74-2 (Root 36, Morgan 4) Morgan takes a couple of deliveries to size up the sitguation, and then goes down on one knee to send the ball skimming through the covers for four, a lovely shot.
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WICKET! Hales c De Kock b Pretorius 24 (England 70-2)
Hales doesn’t make much use of his second chance, swiftly top-edging the ball into the keeper’s gloves.
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13th over: England 69-1 (Hales 24, Root 35) Dropped! That is totally bizarre! Hales hits high but not quite hard enough, and it drops towards Rabada at long on. He raises his hands to collect the ball and ... it flies right between them! And over the rope for six! That’s just bizarre catchmanship.
12th over: England 58-1 (Hales 18, Root 30) De Kock comes up to the stumps, and Hales immediately pops the ball over his head and gets four for his pains. Another follows a couple of balls later, through midwicket this time. Pretorius is like a walking run-buffet here.
11th over: England 47-1 (Hales 16, Root 21) And another change, Keshav Maharaj slowing things down a bit. Englad take a few singles, hindered mainly because their batsmen are still salivating wildly and licking their lips at the thought of some more Pretorius bowling to tuck into.
SA look a bit short of bowling options. Pretorius might have to bowl 10 overs and he doesn't look good enough for that @Simon_Burnton
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) May 27, 2017
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10th over: England 43-1 (Hales 14, Root 19) A bowling change, with Dwaine Pretorius having a go, but the way Root reacts is as if they have just had “HIT ME” stitched into the ball. He goes after the bowler’s second delivery, dancing down the pitch and driving straight and low for four, and then smashes through midwicket for four more.
England have decided that Dwaine Pretorious can't bowl - I suspect that they're right.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) May 27, 2017
9th over: England 33-1 (Hales 13, Root 10) Root goes after a fast, wide delivery and misses it completely, earning a chorus of “oooh”s from the assembled masses. Rabada’s last delivery is short but this one Root does pick out - but then so is the fielder at deep midwicket, unfortunately.
8th over: England 33-1 (Hales 13, Root 10) No fireworks as of yet but there have been a couple of sparklers, in the shape of Rabada’s wicket-smacking yorker and Hales’s brawny heave. But England look ready now to light the touchpaper, Hales bashing towards point only for a diving fielder to stop well, and Root hooking a gentle delivery from Morris fine for four.
7th over: England 25-1 (Hales 12, Root 3) Good pace variation from Rabada, most of whose deliveries are in the high 80something mph, but who then sends one down at 75mph, which Hales anticipates, waits for and tickles away for a couple.
6th over: England 20-1 (Hales 9, Root 1) It may have taken 18 deliveries for England to score a single, but South Africa then bowled 19 deliveries before they scored anything else. That includes a couple of bonus deliveries, because the last couple of overs have both featured an overenthusiastic bumper, both signalled wide. Then from the last ball of Morris’s over Hales takes a big step to his left and heaves the ball over the covers from chest high for four.
5th over: England 13-1 (Hales 4, Root 0) The speed gun tells us that the wicket-taking delivery was going at 93mph, which goes some way to excusing Roy’s complete failure to make contact on his attempted leg-side flick. Three of Roy’s last four ODI innings have ended for less than 10 runs now, which was true of one of the previous 15.
BOWLED HIM! What a beauty of a delivery by @KagisoRabada25 to get rid of Roy for 8. ENG 12/1 (4.1 ovs). #ProteaFire #ENGvSA pic.twitter.com/HgPxHgUYLf
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) May 27, 2017
WICKET! Roy b Rabada 8 (England 12-1)
That’s really fast and full from Rabada, and Roy falls in single figures again!
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4th over: England 12-0 (Roy 8, Hales 4) Roy tries to work the ball to mid on but fluffs the shot and edges, the ball flying at lovely catching height just wide of backward point. Another one-run over.
3rd over: England 11-0 (Roy 7, Hales 4) Rabada bounces one towards Roy’s head at 93mph, his fastest delivery of the day so far, and the batsman has a swing at it, edges it into his arm, and thence into the ground. Roy seems unbothered, but I’m scared for him. “AB knows South Africa doesn’t chase good, he just wants to prove a point, instead of putting the team first,” writes Werner Venter. “SA much better without him!” They have, however, won seven of their last nine games when batting second, against Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand (some of those games without AB, but still). Just a single off the over.
England's first single from their 18th delivery @Simon_Burnton
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) May 27, 2017
2nd over: England 10-0 (Roy 6, Hales 4) Chris Morris bowls, and Hales almost exactly replicates Roy’s lovely first-over boundary through midwicket, with identiacl aresults.
1st over: England 6-0 (Roy 6, Hales 0) After a few dots Roy works the ball square off his hip and gets a couple and, emboldened, works the next through midwicket for four. No immediate movement but the last bounces sharply over Roy’s right shoulder and is left well alone.
Kagiso Rabada has the ball. This is happening.
Jerusalem is being sung, and the players are coming out, to what sounds on TV like wildly enthusiastic applause.
And there’s also this:
England have only won one of their last six ODIs at the Ageas (v Pak last year). Will have worse of conditions after losing toss #EngvSA
— Alan Gardner (@alanroderick) May 27, 2017
This isn’t promising. Or it is promising, I suppose, depending.
Since the 2015 World Cup South Africa have won six of their seven matches when they have chosen to field first. #EngvSA
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) May 27, 2017
“Hope the weather is fine with you all,” writes Chris Drew. It’s certainly fine with me, thanks, despite some overnight rain. Anyway, continue. “It’s lovely here in Normandy. And you know that when the world seems to shine, like you’ve had too much wine, that’s amore! And don’t we all love cricket?” Hmmm, I’m not sure how the Dean Martinesque crooning came into it, but in the circumstances I’m willing to overlook it.
So South Africa bring in Dwayne Pretorius, Farhaan Berhardien and Keshav Maharaj, the latter making his ODI debut.
Here’s South Arica’s team sheet, courtesy of the TMS Twitter people.
Three changes for South Africa. #ENGvSA #bbccricket pic.twitter.com/Y2BYmkn6L9
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) May 27, 2017
AB is “expecting a big improvement from all of us today”. Eoin Morgan says he too would have bowled first, but isn’t really bothered. Chris Woakes is out with a minor injury, and Jake Ball comes in.
We have lost the toss and will bat first.
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) May 27, 2017
Here is our team for today's match #ENGvSA pic.twitter.com/3NUiiUi08Z
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South Africa win the toss and bowl first
“The ball should be swinging a bit,” says AB. “Let’s hope we get a few wickets early on.”
Live TV coverage has just started, and it’s cloudy and a bit breezy. A toss worth winning, then.
Cloudy at the Rose Bowl and not as warm as it might be. It should swing plenty. 50-5 at Midday is not out of the question @Simon_Burnton
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) May 27, 2017
Hello world!
Welcome to The Further Adventures of Englishmen and South Africans Attempting to Hit Themselves Into Form by Next Week Sometime. The first attempt did the trick for some of them, and was for the most part rather stirring, though it fizzled out a bit towards the end. Surely the very worst case scenario when it comes to today’s action is that it will be broadly similar. We should be getting a 7/10 for sporting fun at the very minimum, which is not something that can be said with any great confidence of, say, the Cup final (just as well as cricket-watchers are likely to miss some or all of it).
Weatherwatch: We’re set fair. A glance at the next two days’ forecasts for the Southampton area shows quite how fortunate we are: by Monday lunchtime the area will be extremely soggy. Today, though, is all about the sun and the sport.
Simon will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s our news-story-slash-preview with some glad tidings concerning Ben Stokes’ left knee:
Ben Stokes will be fit to play against South Africa in the second ODI in Southampton on Saturday. It is an indication of Stokes’ status that a gaggle of newshounds kept a constant eye on him throughout a long training session, in which he did little bowling. At one point Stokes was batting right-handed and missing the ball on purpose in order to give Jos Buttler some wicketkeeping practice and we were all dutifully transfixed.
Stokes is a totemic figure and England want him involved whenever possible. On Thursday night he had a scan which did not reveal any serious damage. On Friday morning with his knee carefully bandaged he spent a long time batting. Then we were informed he was fit, able to bowl and playing. So England have resisted the temptation to wrap him in cotton wool even though the Champions Trophy is just around the corner. The medics must be confident that he is fine and there is no doubt Stokes is eager for the fray.
Read the rest right here:
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