South Africa v England 4th ODI - 5 Talking Points

It was a wonderful finish to the 4th ODI between South Africa and England at the New Wanderers stadium, Johannesburg as ‘One Man Army’ Chris Morris played a stunning knock to steer his team to victory and level the 5 match series. The Proteas were trailing 2-1 before coming into this match and this was a must-win game for them. England batted first and posted 262 with the help of Joe Root’s fighting century. South Africa in reply appeared to be losing the track during the chase as side their batting order slowly began to crumble. However, their lower order led by Morris batted brilliantly to enable South Africa win the match narrowly by 1 wicket.

1. Joe Root hits back to back centuries:

Joe Root was the hero for England today after he hit his second consecutive century of the series to rescue England from a tricky stage. The visitors required Root very early after Jason Roy was undone in the 6th over of the match. Root batted well with Hales for a 69 runs stand but soon found his team crumbling down quickly. He was confronted with a difficult challenge but he showed his maturity and accessed the situation perfectly to rescue his team. The Yorkshireman played smartly with the lower order and took England from 108/6 to 223/7 until the fall of his wicket. Amid all this brilliancy, Root also reached his 7th ODI century, the second of the series and ended for a vigilant 109 off 124 balls. No doubt that it was his wonderful effort that helped England in reaching the respectable total in the end.

2. Chris Woakes- The Anchor:

Chris Woakes innings of 33 from 38 balls may appear to be very ordinary. However, this was a special innings from the English fans’ perspective. He walked into bat when England was struggling at 108/6. Root looked well set and required a stable batsman at the other end who could play the anchor’s role. Woakes played that vital role for his team and clung with Root, stitching a 95 runs partnership for the seventh wicket. This significant stand took the team score to 203from 108/6 before he lost his wicket in the 42nd over. Woakes’ steady batting display allowed Root to score freely and keep the run rate at par which eventually helped England reach a decent total after 50 overs.

3. Appreciable bowling performance by South Africa:

The South African bowling attack was incredible today. The bowling unit created ab impact great on the English team. Rabada started off well and with an early breakthrough and removed the dangerous Woakes and Rashid off a single over in his second spell to finish with figures of 4/45. Kyle Abbott and Imran Tahir were also spectacular. The duo were the main reason why England found themselves tattering at 108/6 at one stage before the Root-Woakes fight back successfully saved the visitors. Davis Wiese and Chris Morris were little unimpressive in comparison to their peers but did not leak runs and were economical.

4. Lower middle order fights back:

South Africa also had a very unpleasant start, similar to what England got off with. They lost their Amla in the first over of the match. de Kock and Faf du Plessis then slowly began to build the innings but soon a twin blow by Stokes and Woakes left them in trouble. de Villiers and Duminy also went back in quick succession after batting for a brief period of time. The game looked completely in favor of the touring side. But, the lower middle order came to the rescue of the hosts. Farhaan Behardien (38 from 42 balls) played a sensible knock along with David Wiese to take South Africa little closer to the victory. Wiese (21 from 32 balls) also departed soon. But the Proteas were over the 200 runs mark after being at 143/5 at one stage. Morris then began to counter attack from the other end and batted incredibly to see his team go over the finishing line. In all, the lower order contributed 119 runs in 18.2 overs and played the most vital role in today’s victory for South Africa.

5. Chris Morris rescues the Proteas:

Although the lower order batsmen were remarkable today, it was Chris Morris’s (62 from 38 balls) match-winning. Behardien and Wiese had brought some stability to the chase but their efforts weren’t enough. It was a massive setback for the home team after both the all–rounders departed. Morris is a capable batsman but was left alone to bat with bowlers which prompted him to take the bold way to bringing the match to its conclusion. The right-hander counter attacked the English bowlers and flipped the match into South Africa’s favor as the overs passed by. Batting with the less capable Abbott, he took most of the strike and scored runs quickly to change the course of the match. He was unlucky to have dismissed just before hitting the winning runs after he was clean bowled by Rashid just when only one runs were required. ‘Man of the Match’ Morris left with a standing ovation acknowledging his math-winning innings.