50 overs South Africa 298 for 7 (van der Dussen 111, Miller 53, Curran 3-35) vs England
An opening spell of five overs, 0 for 41 was as encouraging for his own return from a myriad of stress fractures as it was for South Africa’s prospects of scoring easily against pace. But once the fielding restrictions were over, the run-rate was restricted leading to the demise of de Kock, edging behind when trying to pull Curran to the leg side. When Olly Stone struck with his first delivery of the innings – Aiden Markram caught well by Dawid Malan at cover – the score had only moved on to 116 for 1 at the start of the 21st over having been 75 for 1 after the first 10.
Henrich Klassen’s 32-ball 30 added impetus, not least with two sixes – his only boundaries – to put on 55 for the fourth wicket with van der Dussen. Adil Rashid accounted for the former LBW, but the latter was able to use that stand to spring to a higher gear.
Having reached fifty from 63 deliveries, the move to three figures required 47 more. And once that was pocketed, the remaining 5.4 overs could be used to swing for the fences, especially with Miller set at the other end.
The pair would make it to 100 in tandem off 95 deliveries thanks to a huge six from van der Dussen off the first of two free hits in an expensive 47th over from Archer that reaped 20. Curran then showcased the death-bowling skills that elevated him to Player of the Tournament in England’s recent T20 World Cup success to remove the centurion: a cutter across the right-hander that drew a thick edge, well caught by Ben Duckett charging in from deep cover.
A score in excess of 300 still looked on the cards, even with a comeback wicket for Archer (1 for 81), dismissing Wayne Parnell, which gave his figures a handy gloss. Miller’s boundary off the first ball of the final over took him to his ninth fifty-plus ODI score. But some exceptional work on the long-on fence from Willey – calmly relaying a catch to himself as he stepped beyond the boundary in between – ended the knock two balls after bringing up the milestone. With that, Curran conceded three off the remaining three deliveries to ensure only 18 came off the final three overs.