Port Elizabeth - Alex Hales and Jos Buttler were the heroes as England took a 2-0 lead in the five-match ODI series with a classy five-wicket victory over the Proteas in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
The South Africans are staring down the barrel of yet another series defeat following the 3-0 reverse in the Tests as a sluggish batting effort and some wayward bowling helped England to a comfortable triumph at St George’s Park.
The failure to capitalise on an excellent partnership of 107 between captain AB de Villiers and left-hander JP Duminy arguably cost the home side victory as they ended on 262/7 off their 50 overs after De Villiers won the toss and chose to bat.
That mark was probably 20-25 runs short of what they would’ve hoped for while De Villiers and Duminy were out in the middle on a sluggish pitch where the ball didn’t come on to the bat.
The South Africans were unable to make significant inroads into the England batting line-up with the new ball, as only opener Jason Roy lost his wicket for 14 to Kyle Abbott. The Proteas didn’t put any pressure on Alex Hales and Joe Root, who calmly laid the foundation for an England victory with a 97-run partnership for the second wicket.
Even when Root chopped an Abbott delivery on to his stumps to be out for 38 (64 balls, 2x4), the normally big-hitting Hales played the anchor role to perfection on the slow track, working the ball around the ground and putting the bad ball away.
He put up a solid stand of 52 for the third wicket with captain Eoin Morgan, and that broke the back of the South Africans’ push for victory.
The Proteas bowling lacked intensity, while there were a few fielding lapses as well as England managed to keep the run-rate going steadily along at above five to the over without too much trouble.
Abbott was the only Proteas bowler who looked like taking wickets, as while Kagiso Rabada and Morné Morkel didn’t concede too many runs, they couldn’t make any breakthroughs in their opening spells.
Whenever a few tight overs were put together, the pressure was inevitably released by a poor ball from Imran Tahir and the “fifth bowler” duo of Farhaan Behardien and JP Duminy.
Morkel gave the home side some hope when he dismissed Morgan (29) and Stokes (0) in consecutive overs to leave England in a tricky position at 176/4.
But the South Africans never had enough runs to play with, and England wicket-keeper Jos Buttler continued where he left off in Bloemfontein by hitting Abbott for three consecutive fours and then later bludgeoning Tahir for three sixes.
Man-of-the-Match Hales was unfortunate to miss out on a hundred when he gloved an Abbott bouncer to Quinton de Kock down the leg-side for 99 (124 balls, 8x4), but there was no stopping Buttler (48 not out off 28 balls, 4x4, 3x6), who finished the game off with a flourish alongside Moeen Ali (21 not out off 15 balls, 3x4).
Earlier, two controversial umpiring decisions halted the Proteas’ progress in their innings of 262/7.
The pitch was a bit slow and didn’t allow the ball to come on to the bat, which is why the dismissal of Duminy played a huge part in preventing the South Africans from getting close to the 300-run mark.
Just as they got going after De Villiers reached his 48th ODI half-century, the Proteas were rocked by the double blow of losing their captain and then Duminy within three balls.
De Villiers was finding his range and went on the attack after getting to his milestone in a welcome return to form after a lean run recently, but when he went for another big hit off Ben Stokes, Chris Jordan took an outstanding catch as he ran back at midwicket and dived to catch the ball over his shoulder.
De Villiers was gone for a well-played 73 off 91 balls (4x4, 1x6), and would’ve hoped that Duminy could take the Proteas to around 285-290.
The left-hander, though, was given out lbw to Reece Topley by umpire Johan Cloete on 47 (66 balls, 2x4). TV replays showed that the ball would’ve missed leg-stump, but Duminy couldn’t ask for a review as Quinton de Kock had used it already for an unsuccessful appeal against his lbw decision.
Another questionable decision followed soon after when Rilee Rossouw – who looked in good touch for a run-a-ball 11 – had to leave the arena.
Rossouw “yorked” himself by coming down the wicket to Topley, and the ball squeezed past his inside edge. England thought he was out, but Cloete ruled otherwise.
On the review, it was inconclusive as to whether Rossouw had got a nick as the bat hit the ground simultaneously as the ball passed the inside edge, but TV umpire Chris Gaffaney from New Zealand somehow decided that it was out.
That slowed the Proteas innings right down as Behardien battled to deal with the slow nature of the pitch and hit just one boundary in his 23 not out off 26 balls.
Proteas coach Russell Domingo will wonder what to do next in terms of his batting and bowling combinations, as the series will be on the line in the third ODI at Centurion on Tuesday (1.30pm start).
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