ODI Cricket Preview : England On Top


South Africa will look to bounce back in their One Day International series against England when the teams take to The Rose Bowl in Southampton on Saturday afternoon for the second of a three-match series. The first ODI in Headingley on Wednesday saw England power to a 72-run victory. The hosts set a formidable first inning total of 339 thanks to a brilliant century from captain Eoin Morgan and strong contributions from Alex Hales and Moeen Ali. In reply, South Africa looked on course to chase the total down, particularly when Hashim Amla (73) and Faf du Plessis (67) shared a 112-run partnership for the second wicket, but the quick wickets of both players and some soft dismissals in the middle order signalled a disappointing collapse to 267 all out. The main areas the Proteas will look to address are their front-line bowling (where Morne Morkel could well replace one of the three all-rounders, Wayne Parnell, Chris Morris and Andile Phehlukwayo, while Keshav Maharaj could step in for Imran Tahir after he had a rare off-day) as well as a lack of application in the batting. The good news for the tourists is that they have found The Rose Bowl to be a happy hunting ground, winning both of their two previous ODIs at the ground. The Proteas defeated Zimbabwe by 7 wickets back in 2003 and trumped England by 80 runs in 2012, with Amla scoring a superb 150.

Published: 05/25/2017