Jason Roy's redemption trumped Jofra Archer's return with a brilliant hundred, but both ended up on the losing side as England started this World Cup year with defeat.
It was a loss grabbed from the jaws of victory as England’s inexperienced batting lineup failed to make the most of a glorious start from their openers Roy and Dawid Malan. And skipper Jos Buttler fingered his side’s tentative approach in the middle order for leaving them 27 runs short of their target of 299 when the game was there for the taking.
“To get in such a great position to then not go on and win the game is disappointing,” said Buttler. “We need to keep that conviction and that commitment to the way we play. We were a bit tentative and just trying to be a bit safe at times and were not committed enough to our strokes.”
It had seemed rather straightforward when England were 146-0, but the South African pace bowlers had other ideas as they dismissed Buttler’s side for 271 to take a 1-0 lead in the three match series. The Protea quicks used the short ball so well, and led by Anrich Nortje, were just too hot for England to handle despite the visitors being in control of the game for a huge part of their chase.
But once Kagiso Rabada broke the game open with the wicket of Roy for 113 when he was caught by Wayne Parnell on the deep square leg rope, the South African’s didn’t need a second invitation to get on top of the current World Champions.
Nortje was quick and hostile on his way to 4-61 while Sisanda Magala was slippery and quicker than you might think in taking 3-46. From 196-3 and cruising, England found themselves 250-7 and under the pump under the lights, with none of their recognised batsmen at the crease.
Their hopes lay with bowling all rounders Sam Curran and Adil Rashid, while Nortje had worked up a head of steam and was topping 90mph. Skipper Temba Bavuma recognised that he had to take the gamble to try and dismiss England and both Nortje and Rabada took wickets in their final overs as they were bowled out.
It took them within one wicket of victory and left arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi duly delivered the knockout blow when he had Olly Stone caught and bowled with 34 balls to spare. The personal achievements of Roy and Archer, who bowled a full 10 overs in his first England match for almost two years, will go a long way to soothing the frustration at the result though.
Roy was back to his very best in collecting his 11th ODI hundred after 16 matches without passing 50, and a dip in form that saw him miss out on the T20 World Cup win in November.
Archer also missed out on that tournament as part of almost two years out of the game with elbow and back injuries, so to see him back in an England shirt and taking a wicket was a huge moment for him.
