South Africa thrashed England by seven wickets with 175 balls in hand in the first of the three-match ODI series at the Headingley in Leeds on Tuesday. Keshav Maharaj’s four-fer and Aiden Markram’s 86 were instrumental as the Proteas took a 1-0 lead in the series.
Chasing an easy target of 132, South Africa’s opening pair of Markram and Ryan Rickleton gave them a thunderous start that shut the door on England’s chances. Markram and Rickleton put on 121 runs off 109 balls for the first wicket. Markram was lethal with the bat, scoring 86 off 55 balls, including 13 fours and two sixes, at a strike rate of 156.36. Whereas Rickelton remained unbeaten at 31 off 59 balls. For England, all the three wickets were taken by leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who finished with figures of 3/26 in his 3.5 overs.
After winning the toss, South Africa opted to bowl first. England kept losing wickets at regular intervals from the beginning. Jamie Smith was the highest scorer for England, making 54 off 48 balls, including 10 fours, at a strike rate of 112.50. Except for Smith, none of the England batters could even touch the 20-run mark. Maharaj was the highest wicket taker for South Africa, finishing with the figures of 4/22 in his 5.3 overs at an economy rate of 4.00. Wiaan Mulder finished with a the bowling figures of 3/33 in seven overs. Maharaj was adjudged the player of the match.
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