AI Simulation, ENG vs SA | Archer and Root help England avoid whitewash at Rosebowl Stadium

Pitch and Weather

The surface at the Rose Bowl Stadium was a nice and flat batting track on which the batters got a lot of freedom to play their shots, and the short square boundaries helped their case even more. Though there might have been some initial seam movement and bounce with the new ball, the majority of the game was dominated by the batters.

The recorded temperature at the Rose Bowl stadium was 21 degrees Celsius, and the conditions were cloudy and overcast in the beginning, but remained clear for the rest of the game.

Toss 

England won the toss and chose to bat first

Lineups

England: Jamie Smith, Tom Banton, Joe Root, Harry Brook(c), Jos Buttler(wk), Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood.

South Africa: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi. 

Match Report

The England team won the toss and elected to bat first on a nice and green wicket at Southampton. Though the new opening pair of Jamie Smith and Tom Banton struggled at the start due to some disciplined bowling from Kagiso Rabada and Nandre Burger, they made up for it towards the end of the powerplay as England finished the powerplay on a score of 52/0. The partnership between the two started to look dangerous until Lungi Ngidi knocked over Banton’s off stump in the 13th over. Smith also departed in the following over as he failed to convert his start into a big score once again. While the two wickets might have caused a bit of a problem, Joe Root and England skipper Harry Brook formed an important partnership with Root controlling the strike with his elegant stroke play, and Brook decided to play the aggressor at the other end. These two batters were moving along strongly until Maharaj came to the rescue in the 25th over and broke the 93-run partnership by getting the prized wicket of the skipper on a score of 59 off 47 deliveries. Despite losing the wicket of Brook, the Three Lions were in a commanding position at 162/3. While it seemed like England would get to a massive total, Rabada returned in the 27th over and brought an end to Root’s incredible knock of 74 as his leg stump was uprooted by the right-arm quick. Despite losing the two set batters, Jos Buttler continued the run-flow at the other end. Though the English wicket keeper was looking good at the crease, Rabada got the Proteas back in the game with a couple of more scalps as he dismissed Jacob Bethell cheaply and put an end to Buttler’s dangerous-looking knock of 48 off just 34 deliveries in the 33rd over. This put England in a bit of a problem at the backend, with the score reading 230/6 after 35 overs. While it looked like the Proteas made a great comeback in the middle overs, Will Jacks and Jamie Overton played crucial cameos at the backend as they pushed the England score to 302/7 at the end of 50 overs.

The conditions seemed to have gotten better at the Rose Bowl as South African opening batters Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton scored their runs at a brisk rate. Both batters finished the first 10 overs on a score of 60/0. All seemed to be going well for the Rainbow Nation until Jamie Overton gave the Three Lions their first breakthrough as Rickelton chopped the ball onto his stumps on a score of 38 off 44 in the 14th over. Markram threw his wicket away in the 17th over as well by attempting a wild slog on a flighted delivery by Adil Rashid, which crashed into his middle and leg stump. The opening batter was dismissed on a score of 45 off 52, leaving two new batters at the crease. Despite losing both their openers early, a partnership between South African skipper Temba Bavuma and Matthew Breetzke seemed to have gotten the Proteas innings back on track with decent looking third-wicket stand. Unfortunately, the partnership of 47 was broken by Rashid after he dismissed Bavuma in the 24th over. The situation got worse as Breetzke was also shortly dismissed in the 27th over by Jofra Archer as he was caught plumb in front by a toe-crushing yorker. After the two dismissals, South Africa found themselves in a tricky position with the score at 139/4 after 30 overs, with the required rate jumping to 8.15. While the equation was still tough, Tristan Stubbs and Dewald Brevis kept the chase with the crucial fifth wicket stand. The partnership of 57 off 30 deliveries was looking dangerous until Archer came to the rescue once again as he got rid of Brevis in the 36th over. Though Stubbs tried his best to keep the chase alive, he was running out of partners at the other end as Archer claimed his third wicket in the form of Corbin Bosch, and Overton got the wicket of Rabada. The game was finally done as Stubbs was finally dismissed after a well-made 54 off 41 deliveries by Saqib Mahmood. In the end, the equation was too tough to handle for the tail as South Africa’s innings finally came to an end at 289/9 and fell 13 runs short of the target, which also ruined their hopes of a clean sweep.

Player of the Match

Joe Root was awarded the player of the match award after his calm and composed knock of 74 off 88 deliveries. 

Scorecard