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Poor bowling, fielding could cost SA in first ODI against England

England batsman Ben Stokes hits out watched by South Africa wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock during the 1st Royal London One Day International match between England and South Aafrica at Headingley on May 24, 2017 in Leeds, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
England batsman Ben Stokes hits out watched by South Africa wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock during the 1st Royal London One Day International match between England and South Aafrica at Headingley on May 24, 2017 in Leeds, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Cape Town - South Africa’s bowlers and fielders have plenty of homework to do before their Champions Trophy examination.

That was clear from their performance in the first one-day international against England at Headingley in Leeds on Wednesday.

Amajita have their backs to the wallAmajita have their backs to the wall having lost their opening game of the Fifa Under-20 World Cup against Japan‚ but need to dig deeper‚ remain calm‚ and show more composure up-front against Italy on Wednesday‚ said SA U-20 coach Thabo Senong. 

AB de Villiers won the toss and chose to field, and his attack repaid that apparent confidence by conceding a total of 339/6 - the highest score posted in the 39 ODIs played at the ground.

Only Chris Morris, aside from part-time JP Duminy, looked the part in a bowling unit that bled runs and had to rely on loose strokes for their wickets.

Morris took 2/61 and bowled the only maiden of the innings. Duminy went wicketless, but the 34 runs he gave up off six overs made him South Africa’s tidiest bowler.

Swashbuckling Sundowns overcome great odds to win in KinshasaMamelodi Sundowns put behind them the fatigue of a long season‚ a bevy of injuries‚ the disappointment of losing their local league crown last week and a hostile crowd to come away from Kinshasa on Wednesday with one of their best wins ever – a 3-1 success in the group phase of the African Champions League at the imposing Stade des Martyrs over AS Vita Club. 

None of Morris’ and Duminy’s colleagues could keep the pressure on for long enough to bowl maidens, much less force errors.

And when they did manage to put the batsmen on the spot, too often their hard work was squandered by shoddy work in the field.

Opener Alex Hales took advantage of all that while the ball was new with a 61 that rattled off 60 balls with eight fours and a six.

Hales and Joe Root steadied England in a second-wicket stand of 98 that followed Wayne Parnell having Jason Roy caught behind in the second over.

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But the stars for the home side were Eoin Morgan and Moeen Ali, who put on 117: a record for England’s sixth wicket in ODIs against South Africa.

The partnership started after the home side had slumped to 198/5 in the fifth over and endured into the 48th.

Morgan went to his ton in the 45th, which leaked 22 runs and saw him smash Imran Tahir for three sixes.

Morris removed Morgan for a 93-ball 107, but Moeen was still there at the end with an undefeated 77 - 50 of them in fours and sixes - off 51 balls.

No bowler besides Morris sent down all 10 of their overs, but even he could have done without a last over that cost him 13 runs. - TMG Digital/Sports

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