Jofra Archer of England celebrates the wicket of Aiden Markram of South Africa during the Group Stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between England and South Africa at The Oval on May 30, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
Jofra Archer silenced the doubters and exposed the riskiness of the Proteas’ World Cup strategy with a superb spell as England clinically disposed of their opponents by 104 runs at The Oval on Thursday.
The 22-year-old quick had been fast-tracked into the tournament hosts’ squad, leading to grumpiness in some quarters that he’d been given preferential treatment.
Figures of three for 27 from seven potent overs, however, justified the decision of including a rookie with undeniable X-factor.
Archer totally threw the South Africans, who faced an imposing target of 312, off their stride.
A rapid short ball saw Hashim Amla edge a pull onto his helmet, a blow that was enough to see the bearded stalwart retire hurt to go for a concussion assessment.
He then exposed Aiden Markram’s weakness outside off with a excellent, lifting delivery that bounced before striking a killer blow in luring Faf du Plessis into hooking a short ball to deep fine leg.
To round off a brilliant day, Archer rushed Rassie van der Dussen into another pull that only made it as far as Moeen Ali at mid-on, ending any resistance that the Proteas might’ve offered.
To be fair to Van der Dussen though, he did his best to play a part, working his way to a 64-ball 50 and overcoming a tentative start to England’s spinners.
Only he and Quinton de Kock, who stroked a crisp 68, gave the English bowlers any cause for concern as South Africa’s senior players worryingly underperformed.
Amla (13) returned at the fall of the sixth wicket, only to be dismissed by a slower bouncer, while JP Duminy will have nightmares of his tame lofted drive to mid-off when he needed to show steel and leadership.
Earlier, the bowlers did reasonably well to restrict the hosts’ power-packed batting line-up.
South Africa’s prospects looked bleak when Jason Roy (54) and Joe Root (51) compiled a fluent 106-run second-wicket stand in 18.2 overs after Du Plessis’ tactic of opening the bowling with Imran Tahir’s leg-spin paid off with Jonny Bairstow’s wicket in the first over.
However, in what was to become a pattern of the innings, the Proteas managed to pick up scalps at handy intervals.
Tahir, who finished with 2/60, had English skipper Eoin Morgan (57) brilliantly caught by Aiden Markram long-on, while Lungi Ngidi shrugged off an inconsistent day by snapping up the vital wickets of Jos Buttler (18) and Moeen Ali (3) when England were aiming to take off.
It was left to the dynamic Ben Stokes to spearhead the home side’s innings, crafting a classy 89 off just 79 deliveries and setting up his splendid all-round showing.
Ngidi boasted figures of 3/66, while strike partner Kagiso Rabada had his moments in taking 2/66.
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