LEEDS: Keshav Maharaj took 4-22 as South Africa thrashed a woeful England side by seven wickets after dismissing the hosts for just 131 runs in the first one-day international at Headingley on Tuesday.
South Africa sent England into bat and the home side made a bright start as they reached 82-2 in the 14th over, before losing their last eight wickets for just 49 runs following an innings peppered with poor shot selections.
Only Jamie Smith put up any sort of resistance with a fine 54 from 48 balls, but South African opener Aiden Markram smashed 86 in 55 balls to show the pitch was a good one as he shared a first wicket partnership of 121 in 18.1 overs with Ryan Rickelton (31 not out from 59 balls).
The second match in the three-game series will be played at Lord’s on Thursday.
The teams will also contest three Twenty Internationals starting on September 10. “It was not a great start to the series, just one of those bad days and we will move on as soon as possible,” England captain Harry Brook said.
“Everyone will hold their hand up and say we had a bad day. We could not get a partnership together. The ball held in the pitch a little, but they bowled really nicely.
“We need to put that performance behind us now and get down to London.” England started brightly with successive fours in the opening over from Smith and despite Ben Duckett’s early dismissal, they appeared to be heading towards setting an imposing target.
However, a tired-looking shot from Joe Root, after a long summer of cricket, saw him edge the ball for wicket keeper Rickelton to hang onto a juggling catch, signalling the start of a dramatic slump.
Spinner Maharaj’s varying pace then bamboozled the batters as England were dismissed three balls shy of half of their allotted 50 overs.
England’s debutant seamer Sonny Baker opened the bowling but finished with figures of 0-76 off seven overs.
Markram was particularly brutal on him before he was the first of three wickets late in the chase for spinner Adil Rashid, who took 3-26.
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“It was important to start well,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said. “We were clinical with the ball, we 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 should not take anything away from the chase, led brilliantly by Aiden.”
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