After a stunning victory in the opening ODI in Bloemfontein on Friday (January 27), South Africa took a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series against England. After a blistering 146-run opening stand between the English openers within the first 20 overs, defending 298 was on the back foot very early. The hosts, on the other hand, staged a fantastic comeback to secure a 27-run victory despite Jason Roy's roaring return to form with a fantastic hundred.
Dawid Malan opened the innings with Roy and scored three boundaries off Kagiso Rabada to get England off to a quick start. England made a statement when Roy scored consecutive boundaries in the very next over, scoring 29 runs in the first three overs. Aiden Markram was smashed for a six straight down the ground by Roy, and that kicked off another brief spell filled with boundaries, even though the hosts appeared to pull things back a little after that.
While Roy continued to have a good time, another six, this time from Anrich Nortje, helped England surpass 100. Roy had already sprinted to 77 off 56 balls when drinks were called. With a short ball that Malan mistimed, Sisanda Magala broke the partnership, much to South Africa's relief. In the very next over, Ben Duckett fell, and Magala caught debutant Harry Brook leg before wicket for a duck. The game was quickly turned around by three wickets in three overs, but Roy's three-figure performance for England allowed them to take control once more. With seven wickets remaining, the visitors were strongly favored to score 103 more runs at 196/3. Rabada, on the other hand, scored the centurion with a short ball, saving South Africa's life.
After that, the hosts took control of the game, with Nortje finding Jos Buttler's outside edge and Magala hitting Moeen Ali with another short ball. England was put under pressure by those two wickets. The South African seamers kept making further breakthroughs to seal the deal in quite stunning fashion, despite the fact that their long tail gave them hope, particularly given that they could easily achieve the required run rate.
Earlier in the day, the hosts put up 298/7 thanks to a strong batting performance. If they had finished better, they would have been closer to 320, but England managed to keep the South Africans quiet at the end. That wasn't the case, though, when Temba Bavuma went crazy on the powerplay earlier in the game. Quinton de Kock joined in, and Jofra Archer, who was back, had a hard time out in the middle. Before Moeen Ali's introduction ended Bavuma's stay, Bavuma and de Kock continued to trade boundaries in order to give South Africa a strong start.
After that, Rassie van der Dussen took over and kept the scoreboard moving despite losing players like Aiden Markram and De Kock. Van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen put together a good stand to resurrect the innings after the wicketkeeper-batsman hit a six off Adil Rashid to show his intentions. However, the leggie had the upper hand when he bowled a fuller delivery that Klaasen completely missed, leaving him trapped lbw. Van der Dussen was then tasked with leading South Africa to a significant total. He got back-to-back boundaries from Archer as the hosts, who were in good position at 224/4 after 40 overs, prepared for a final attack.
Miller and the well-set van der Dussen were then kept quiet for a while by England before the right-hander scored his century. Miller made up for lost time by hitting some timely boundaries to reach fifty, but England made sure the hosts only got 74 in the last ten overs. While it might have appeared to be well less than impressive when Roy and Malan were making joyful, the complete in the long run ended up being sufficient.
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