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18th over: South Africa 104-2 (de Kock 61, Markram 2) It’s raining at Headingley, although it’s still not heavy enough for the players to come out. Another decent over from Curran, barring an offside.
“I’d say Curran’s strongest suit is one-day cricket,” says Colum Fordham. “He doesn’t have the pace for Test cricket, but his variations are tailor-made for the shorter format and his batting is also aggressive.”
17th over: South Africa 101-2 (de Kock 60, Markram 1) “Hi Rob,” says Julian Menz. “I really wish Tanya’s article was open to comments, as I suspect that even us club cricketers have suffered from heat exhaustion at some point, and it is a very serious issue. Mention the team of protection and spending hours in the crease sweating with a helmet at 30°C+ is a nightmare.
“I realize the obvious differences (footballers run a lot more for one), but the World Cup has been moved from the summer in Qatar. A batsman who compiles a high score may spend many hours masked in stuffy clothing, exposed to the sun. As someone who gets heatstroke easily, it never ceases to amaze me how they don’t pass out.”
Sometimes they do.
Updated at 12.12 BST
WICKET! South Africa 99-2 (van der Dussen c Bairstow b Rashid 26)
Mid innings wittaker strikes again. van der Dussen sweeps Rashid straight to deep square leg, where Bairstow takes a simple catch. This is a useful wicket for England considering Van der Dussen’s record.
16th over: South Africa 97-1 (de Kock 58, van der Dussen 25) Curran has no real movement so is mixing things up. A surprise short ball rises majestically over Buttler’s head for a bounce four from de Kock, a shot that prompts Mike Atherton to quote Brian Lara. No more praise for a lefty.
15th: South Africa 92-1 (de Kock 54, van der Dussen 24) Adil Rashid comes into the attack. He remains a crucial figure, having taken more ODI wickets than anyone in the world since the 2015 World Cup, but at 34 he feels like he’s in slight decline. Don’t ask me who replaces him in the medium term, although England have 17-year-old Rehan Ahmed in the squad today.
de Kock slides his first ball for four and then makes a dirty noise to the cover boundary to bring up a classy fifty off 39 balls. An unusually messy start from Rashid includes a wide offside. which makes it 11 from the last one.
Updated at 12.03 BST
14th: South Africa 81-1 (de Kock 45, van der Dussen 23) Sam Curran, player of the match for Friday, replaces Topley (5-0-34-0). Four years on from his England debut, Curran remains a tough cricketer to judge: I’m not sure which is his strongest suit, or his strongest format, or whether he’s actually any good. But I know he’s very nice.
His first challenge is quiet, culminating in an unsuccessful appeal to catch back when van der Dussen misses a hook.
13th over: South Africa 78-1 (de Kock 43, van der Dussen 22) Only one wicketkeeper has made more ODI hundreds than Kock, the phenomenal Kumar Snagakkara. Interesting to see Shai Hope so high on the list.
Meanwhile, reverse van der Dussen sweeps Moeen for a couple and then smashes a wide ball to the cover boundary. He has moved in his usual understated fashion on 22 off 25 balls.
12th over: South Africa 71-1 (de Kock 42, van der Dussen 16) More delicious batting from De Kock, who drives a full Topley delivery over four. He timed the ball exquisitely this morning and already looks a decent bet for his 18th ODI hundred.
11th over: South Africa 65-1 (de Kock 37, van der Dussen 16) van der Dussen premeditated a four over Moeen. Buttler knew what was coming and moved to the leg side but ended up running over the ball.
Early indications are that South Africa will be looking for a score of at least 300.
Updated at 11.44am BST
10th over: South Africa 60-1 (de Kock 36, van der Dussen 12) Topley replaces Willey, and his first ball is classily timed to the cover boundary by de Kock. The placement was impeccable, straight between the men at point and a short extra.
He opens his face at the last second to slide another boundary to third man, a difficult shot that looks offensively easy. He has run on 36 off 28 balls.
“A childish person might frame it as a battle between Willey and de Kock,” says Matt Dony. “But we’re above that.”
9th over: South Africa 51-1 (de Kock 27, van der Dussen 12) Moeen bowls his first to de Kock, who drives beautifully through extra cover for his fourth boundary. Looks good here, ominous for England.
8th over: South Africa 44-1 (de Kock 20, van der Dussen 11) Consecutive boundaries for de Kock off Willey. The former was run through the slips after a cut across the line, the latter made a deft ramp around the corner from outside off stump.
van der Dussen hits three boundaries in four balls with a drive up through the covers. A good over for South Africa, 13 from that.
7th over: South Africa 31-1 (de Kock 12, van der Dussen 7) Moeen Ali comes into the attack, a brave and interesting move given we’re still in the Powerplay.
Van der Dussen took his second ball through the empty slip area for four, which then sweeps a couple of runs into the same area.
6th over: South Africa 25-1 (de Kock 12, van der Dussen 1) The new batsman is Rassie van der Dussen, the man with the highest average in ODI history (min 20 innings).
WICKET! South Africa 24-1 (Malan c Roy b Willey 11)
Malan struggled to line up Willey this morning, and now he’s gone. He got a delivery angled onto it, possibly with a scrambled seam, and cut it straight to Roy at point.
Updated at 11.25am BST
5th over: South Africa 24-0 (Malan 11, de Kock 12) Kock has started well but the right-handed Malan is still setting his sights. After making 2 off 13 balls, he hits a half-volley at mid-on. to ease the limit.
Gets another boundary later in the over, walking down the track to hit a short ball to mid-on. Love-15.
4th over: South Africa 14-0 (Malan 2, de Kock 11) Too direct from Willey, and de Kock clocks the first boundary of the day through part.
3rd over: South Africa 9-0 (Malan 2, de Kock 6) de Kock is run down, leading to a tempting offswinger from Topley. There is a bit of going on for the England bowlers so Topley continues to bowl. De Kock leans in a good push through extra cover and returns for three.
2nd over: South Africa 5-0 (Malan 2, de Kock 3) There’s a bit of swing for David Willey, and Janneman Malan is bowled by the non-returner. Willey starts with a good maiden.
1st: South Africa 5-0 (Malan 2, de Kock 3) Reece Topley has taken 11 for 76 in his last three ODIs, many of them with the new ball. It takes a few deliveries to find his range, but his last one is a jaffa that straightens past Quinton de Kock’s outside edge.
Updated at 11.06 BST
The players are out, and the in-form Reece Topley will bowl first.
Cricket and climate change
This is another great piece by Tanya Aldred, who was one of the first, if not the first, to bring the topic to light.
Updated at 10.50 BST
It’s a sunny and pleasant morning in Headingley, defying the forecast. There is a chance of rain later, although you never know with these things.
Team news
Both teams have not changed. Next!
England Roy, Bairstow, Salt, Root, Buttler (c/wk), Livingstone, Ali, Curran, Willey, Rashid, Topley.
South Africa Malan, de Kock (wk), van der Dussen, Markram, Klaasen, Miller, Pretorious, Maharaj (c), Nortje, Ngidi, Shamsi.
South Africa win the toss and bat
So much for being an advantage bowling. Keshav Maharaj says the pitch looks a bit dry, so South Africa want to give their spinners the best chance to get wickets.
Jos Buttler says England were ‘a bit 50/50’ but probably would have played.
Some important news from Scotland
BREAK: Cricket Scotland’s board of directors has resigned with immediate effect. It follows a “devastating” review which found Scottish cricket to be “institutionally racist”. Our @SkyNews report from yesterday via @YouTube
— James Matthews (@jamesmatthewsky) July 24, 2022
Preview by Ali Martin
preamble
Sunday: rest day. And, in English cricket in July 2022, of resolution. For the second consecutive Sunday, England are involved in an ODI series decider. They bowed to the genius of Rishabh Pant at Old Trafford a week ago; today, they hope for a better result against South Africa at Headingley.
Bilateral series tend not to be tattooed on the brain; if you don’t believe me, try naming the England XI for the first ODI against the Netherlands last month, then try naming the Netherlands XI, but they occasionally find a home in the subconscious. This is a quietly important game for an England side that has suffered a crisis of confidence in recent weeks.
In a world where perception increasingly trumps reality, the line between decline and terminal decline can be very thin. If England lose a third white-ball series in a row, talk of the end of an era will be amplified. But if they win, they will feel much better about their lives going into the T20 series on Wednesday.
We haven’t said it too often over the past seven years, but England need more from their batsmen. They started the ODI summer by nearly scoring 500 against Holland; since then they have not reached 300.
Jos Buttler would also like a bit more luck with the draw. He lost big ones against India at the Oval and South Africa at Chester-le-Street. With a mixed forecast at Headingley, it will surely be a decent advantage to play first.
The game will start at 11am, with the draw at 10.30am.
Updated at 10.31 BST