England were downed in clinical style by South Africa to lose their opening series of the year and continue a trend of five defeats in a row.
And the numbers don’t get any better for Jos Buttler's side who have now lost eight in ten and were beaten here by five wickets having posted the second highest total they have ever failed to defend.
South Africa overhauled their target of 343 with five balls to spare thanks in large part to a third ODI hundred for skipper Temba Bavuma and then the ice-cold match-winning skills of David Miller who made 58 not out and finished the game with a six.
It knocked Buttler’s own 94 not out into a cocked hat, and means that the England skipper has now failed to win any of his first four ODI series since taking over from Eoin Morgan. Hardly the form the defending champions would be hoping for at the start of a World Cup year, but it is already clear where they need to improve if they are to repeat their 2019 success.
As good as their batting has been and still is, with Harry Brook announcing his one day credentials with 80, it is wicket-takers who are worth their weight in gold on flat pitches against fearless batsmen. And without a firing Jofra Archer or Mark Wood to take the conditions out of the equation, England came up short.
Olly Stone was the one outstanding bowler, taking 2-48 across his 10 overs, and bore a more than passing resemblance to the one time wicket-taking efforts of Liam Plunkett. But he was largely alone as a serious threat as South Africa batted like a team that should be challenging to win the next World Cup rather than struggling to qualify for it,
“I thought we played well today for large parts of the game but we were just outplayed by South Africa,” said Buttler. “We’re not performing as well as we’d like and that is down to me and the coach and the players to work that out and try to raise our level.
“We know some players will come back from injuries or availability and will come again, but we have good players here. We are disappointed not to be getting results at the minute because it is nice to win games and series and get confidence that way, but there is belief in the way we play and the success we’ve had, we just need to push the envelope further and not rest on our laurels.”
Batting first against an attack that got plenty of sideways movement, life was far tougher for Jason Roy and Dawid Malan than on Friday and they both fell inside the first seven overs. The fact that Brook was then able to build a platform confirmed yet again his quality regardless of the format, but he will be kicking himself at not going on to score another international hundred.
The last time Moeen Ali made a score more than fifty in ODI cricket it was a hundred in Bristol in 2017, but he got there with a delicious array of strokes to remind everyone of his ability. But it still wasn’t enough.
