ENG vs SA | Takeaways – Jofra Archer repays England's faith and Ben Stokes’ all-round brilliance

05/30/2019

England kick-started their World Cup campaign with a bang, winning the encounter by 104 runs to set the tempo against South Africa at The Oval. Jofra Archer hogged the headlines with his skilful bowling while Ben Stokes underlined his worth in the line-up with an all-round performance.

Jofra Archer makes immediate impact

While 300 has become a norm in ODI cricket, for England, 350 is the par score due to their less effective bowling. After the first innings, those who have followed English cricket closely would feel that England were below par and South Africa had the batting to gun down such a challenging total.

For England, they needed early wickets to put pressure and the only bowler, who could have extracted some help from the surface, was Jofra Archer. And the lanky bowler didn’t disappoint. He mixed up his length beautifully and kept the South African batsmen under check with the new ball. He hardly pitched in the scoring zone and a nasty bouncer, that struck Hashim Amla on the grill, compelled the Proteas opener to walk back to the pavilion and seek some medical attention. By that time, South Africa were baptised with fire and got a taste of what was in store for them.

Moments later, Archer got the better of Aiden Markram and Faf du Plessis to tighten the noose around South Africa's shaky batting lineup. His rhythm was astounding; control immaculate and didn’t fizzle out after an over or two. More importantly, he bowled with intent and eyed wickets - a factor that England desperately needed in the armoury. He finished with figures of 3 for 27 in seven overs to dismantle South Africa for a paltry 207.

Archer has a golden opportunity to establish himself in the English ranks and so far, it would be safe to say that he has justified the hype to an extent, which was built around him. England are no more a weak bowling attack, a well-oiled Archer’s inclusion has provided them with the much-needed firepower. The only question is – will Archer continue to weave similar magic consistently?

An in-form Stokes is pure gold in this format

There is no denying the fact that an all-rounder is always an asset to any side in this era of cricket, but one of Stokes’ calibre is no less than a blessing. The southpaw holds the key to England’s success not only with the bat but also with the ball. After a terrible run in the IPL, concerns regarding Stokes’ form grew but his adaptation to the 50-over format was akin to a duck to water.

Stokes was hot and cold in the warm-up games and the series against Pakistan, but the sign of a great player is how he delivers on the big stage. Come the World Cup opener and Morgan had his lieutenant firing on all cylinders. After smashing an emphatic 89 to help England cross the 300-run mark, Stokes left everyone bewildered with a superhuman effort to grab a blinder at mid-wicket, which ended Andile Phehlukwayo’s innings.

With the ball, Stokes cleaned up the South African tail and folded their innings for 207, further handing his side a 104-run win. This outing was just a testament to Stokes’ worth in this team, which can be weighed in gold. He can bat, he can bowl and he can pull off those improbable catches too. Is there anything Ben Stokes cannot do on the field? Stokes is the kind of a player, who can wreak havoc when in form but can be equally frustrating when not. England can only hope that they get the former in their quest for a maiden World Cup trophy.

South African bowling will only breathe fire with Steyn back

England have been in red-hot form with the bat, overhauling 350-run mark without even sweating it out on a consistent basis. This surface, though a little slow in nature, was good enough for a 350 total and South African bowlers did well to restrict the start-studded side to 311.

Despite missing out on Dale Steyn, the pace attack, especially Ngidi and Rabada, inspired confidence and was well supported by Imran Tahir. South Africa do have one of the best bowling attacks in the tournament and this outing without Steyn bore witness to it. Ngidi and Rabada kept things under check with the new ball and kept chipping wickets at regular intervals. Phehlukwayo, on the other hand, was economical and scalped a solitary wicket as well.

Barring Tahir’s early strike, South Africa were unable to pick any wicket whatsoever and the momentum drifted away. This is where Steyn can make a difference with his ability to move the ball and penetrate. Nevertheless, they did well in the death overs too, conceding just 76 runs from the last 10 overs and bagged four wickets.

On this surface, the target was well under South Africa’s reach but a dismal batting performance shed waters on their bowlers' hard work. One can only imagine the kind of vigour Steyn’s experience and new ball skills will add on his return.