Razeen Gutta
A Rassie Van Der Dussen century and some excellent variations with the ball helped South Africa to a 62 run win against England in the first ODI as the men’s tour commenced in Chester-le-street.
Sam Curran dismissed Quinton de Kock early after South Africa opted to bat first, however Janneman Malan helped Van Der Dussen steady the innings with a good half century.
In the middle overs, Aiden Markam joined Van Der Dussen at the crease as the pair played England’s spin brilliantly to take the score from 144/2 to 295/3 before Van Der Dussen completed his century to take the visitors to a final score of 333/5 in their 50 overs.
Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow set the foundation well for the hosts with a 100 run opening stand before captain Keshav Maharaj and fellow spinner Aiden Markam got the first of the ten wickets.
Ben Stokes was next to go in the final ODI game of his career after being trapped leg before by Markam. Tabraiz Shamsi got in on the act to dismiss Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali cheaply, before Ainrich Nortje got Joe Root after a phenomenal 86 off 77 deliveries from him.
Nortje next went on to dismiss the English tail to claim a fantastic 4/53 inside his 9 overs — getting the hosts all out for 271 with three overs to spare.
The ODIs continue on Friday with the second of three kicking off at 2pm SAST in Manchester.b
