They say that if you fail to prepare you should prepare to fail, and it turns out that is what England were doing across the two understaffed days of training with which they launched themselves into this series. They proceeded to get bowled out for 131 in 24.3 overs, losing their last seven wickets for just 29 runs, before Aiden Markram humbled their bowlers in propelling South Africa towards victory by seven wickets, sealed with 175 balls to spare.
A week ahead of this match Temba Bavuma’s team were in the middle of a convoluted, lengthy journey from Queensland to Yorkshire via Sydney, Singapore and London. But it was England who looked jetlagged by the less long-distance but more recent whiplash turnaround from the Hundred, in which several squad members, if only two of those selected for this series opener, were engaged 48 hours earlier. In their absence the team’s first training session on Sunday was attended by just a handful of players, their second on Monday had less than two-thirds of the squad present, and the outcome was a powder-puff display against match-honed and whip-smart opponents.
Until they lost two wickets in two balls with the scores tied and the die cast the tourists’ performance had been as blemish-free as England’s was error-strewn. England’s collapse was hastened by some excellent fielding, with outstanding catches from Corbin Bosch to dismiss Jamie Smith – who later produced a superb grab of his own to dismiss Markram for 86 – and from Markram himself, diving to his left at slip, to account for Jofra Archer, as well as an excellent throw from Tristan Stubbs to facilitate Harry Brook’s run-out.
One half-hearted bit of fielding on the boundary from Lungi Ngidi, who wafted his foot at a ball he would easily have stopped with a dive, was as close as they came to imperfection – though Tony de Zorzi, who limped from the field after injuring himself in a vain attempt to keep a Smith drive away from the rope, may have regretted not taking a similar approach.
The ICC’s rankings make Keshav Maharaj officially the best bowler in the world in this format and the spinner bewitched England across 33 deliveries that brought four wickets and the home side to their knees. On a pitch that offered no demons and an outfield that gave no encouragement to chasing fielders a superficially strong side folded feebly.
There had been much talk in the buildup to the series about the impact changes to the two-ball rule in ODIs – this was the first time England had played since their introduction – might have on the latter stages of the innings. The new rule allows the fielding side to choose one of the two balls in use for the first 34 overs to stick with for the last 16, meaning that by the end whichever is chosen is more likely to be scuffed enough to assist the bowlers in the production of reverse swing. Brook’s side found a cast-iron way of negating that novelty, by the simple expedient of ensuring that neither innings lasted long enough for it to take effect.
England’s efforts started badly, with Ben Duckett caught behind in the third over having scored just five, and improved only moderately from there before nosediving theatrically once Maharaj was introduced.
Only four players reached double figures and Smith alone managed more than 15, top-scoring with 54. But it was the opener who precipitated the collapse when, having reached his half-century from 46 balls, carefully laying the groundwork for a potentially match-defining contribution, he got out almost immediately. That took England’s score to 102 for four and their partnerships from there contributed five, 10, two, nothing, 12 and nothing.
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The selection of Sonny Baker added some interest to South Africa’s inevitable procession, though opening the bowling in defence of such a humble total might be the harshest of all possible debut assignments.
His first four overs duly went for 56 with Markram alone scoring 45 of them, though he improved in returning for three more after a change of ends. Archer thought he had Ryan Rickelton caught at slip off his fifth ball – it bounced just before reaching Joe Root – and actually did trap him lbw off his sixth but England failed to review the on-field decision. It was just one of many failures.
