Cape Town — Rassie van der Dussen’s career best 133 powered the Proteas to an imposing 333/5 in the series-opener against England at a searing Chester-le-Street in Durham on Tuesday.
After captain Keshav Maharaj won the toss and having no hesitation in electing to bat, it was impressive partnerships that formed the cornerstone of the Proteas’ total with Van der Dussen putting on 107 with opener Janneman Malan (57 off 77 balls, 5x4) and 151 with Aiden Markram (77 off 61 balls).
Both Malan and Markram provided Van der Dussen with solid support as the Proteas played risk-free cricket for most of their innings. With the Riverside Ground’s outfield among the largest in England, the Proteas manoeuvred the ball into gaps and ran superbly well between the wickets in the hot and humid conditions.
Van der Dussen struck just nine boundaries in reaching his three-figure milestone, but still only utilised 90 balls to get there.
England captain Jos Buttler’s bowling options were limited, though, after debutant Matty Potts was forced to leave the field due to injury after delivering just four overs. This forced Buttler to utilise leg-spinner Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes, who was playing his final ODI, in the final 10 overs.
This opened up the opportunity for Markram, in particular, to put his foot down on the accelerator as the Proteas looked to raise the run-rate.
South Africa were well-set at 244/2 after 40 overs and were just beginning to really put England under pressure at the death when part-time leg-spinner Liam Livingstone produced a double-wicket over by removing both Markram and Van der Dussen to stem the onslaught in the 46th over.
They eventually managed 89 runs off the last 60 deliveries with David Miller finishing unbeaten on 24 off 14 balls (4x4).
Opener Quinton de Kock would have felt that he missed out on a really good batting surface after being dismissed cheaply for 19 when Sam Curran deceived him with a cutter early on.
The Proteas bowlers will know though that no target is out of reach of England’s imposing batting line-up and that they will need to be on target from the outset.
First ODI, Chester-le-Street
South Africa: 333/5 (Van der Dussen 133, Markram 77, Malan 57, Livingstone 2/29)
IOL Sport