ICC World Cup Cricket 2019
Match: One
England Vs South Africa Played At Kennington, Oval , London
Brief Scorecard
England 311/8 (Ben Stokes 89, Jason Roy 64, Eoin Morgan 59, JE Root 51, Lungi Ngidi 3/66 , Imran Tahir 2/61 ,Kagiso Rabada 2/66,) beat South Africa 207All out (Quinton de Kock 68, He Vander Dussen 50, Jofra Archer 3/27, Ben Stokes 2/12 , Liam Plunket 2/27) by 104 Runs
Man of the Match: Ben Stokes.
Title aspirant hosts England made the hay in the sunshine winning big by 104 runs in the inaugural match of ICC World Cup against South Africa.
Batting first as many four of their top order batsmen Roy (64), Root (51), Morgan (59) and Stokes (89) made punishing half centuries in England’s business as usual 300 plus score of 311/8. At interval many thought South African bowlers did well restricting powerful English batting to chase able limit of 311/8.
Some of their blasters like Bairstow and Buttler did not fire or otherwise Protean bowlers restricted them. Yet that manageable target proved sky high when penetrative English bowling crushed protean batting to 207 all out in 39.5 overs.
England looks what analysts were predicting a well prepared team ready challenging the best of the best. In the past 11 World Cup they failed going through all the way. They even lost in the finals three times at Lords, London, Eden Gardens Kolkata and MCG Melbourne to West Indies, Australia and Pakistan.
A team will really have to produce great all round performance to beat them this time. For South Africa it is not end of their opportunity. For being competitive their big guns Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy have to fire. It is a long distance marathon where team has to play consistently well.
Winning the toss du Plessis put England to bat. Perhaps the great ability of England chasing huge scores influenced him letting England bat first. Off all bowlers du Plessis opened with leg spinner Imran Tahir. This was the first time in the history of World Cup a spinner bowling the first over in the first match. He struck immediate success getting inform Jony Bairstow caught behind with the very second ball of the first over.
Root joined Roy and partnership started flowing. The 106 runs second wicket partnership between Roy and Root set the foundation of the English innings on firm base. Roy fell to Phehlukwayo scoring 54 in 53 deliveries. Root also could not convert his solid start getting out to the bowling of Rabada scoring 51.
Captain Morgan coming at number four started playing sublime strokes. He and Stokes were playing fluent strokes and in the fourth wicket partnership scored 116 priceless runs. Protean captain brought back Tahir and he immediately delivered.
Markram took a blinder of his bowling to get rid of dangerous Morgan before he could unleash in the top gear. Morgan scored 57. England was 217/4 in the 37 over when power hitter Buttler joined well set Stokes. South African bowlers not only removed Buttler early but kept on taking wickets regularly to stem the flow of runs. But Stokes alone punished them with brilliant strokes play. Moin Ali and Woakes could not do much damage. But brilliant Stokes took the score beyond 300. He could not get his well deserved century getting out after scoring 89.
South Africa restricted England to 311/8 which could very well reach near 400 if any of the top five could bat till the end. Ngidi (3/66), Rabada (2/66) and Imran Tahir (2/62) bowled reasonably well in restricting England to manageable score. South Africa definitely missed Dayle Steyn.
In a chase of 312 South Africa desperately required their big guns Amla, du Plessis and Duminy firing. But the three together produced 26 runs leaving the younger fellows doing the impossible. Jofra Archer the Caribbean born English fast bowler did most of the damage. He destroyed the middle order removing Markram, du Plessis and Duson with decent deliveries.
Ben Stokes after his great innings with the bat bowled well grabbing the wickets of Rabada and Tahir. South Africa was all out scoring 207. A huge win by 104 put England well on the course. Q de Kock scored 68 and Dusson scored 50. Rest of the Protean batting looked pretty ordinary. Ben Stokes was adjudged Man of the Match for his brilliant all round performance.
BDST: 0927 HRS, MAY 31, 2019
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