1st ODI, ENG Vs RSA , 2025 Highlights : South Africa Started With A Big Win Against England In 1st ODI .

1ST ODI , ENGLAND  Vs  SOUTH AFRICA , LEEDS, 2025 HIGH LIGHTS : South Africa Started With A Big Win Against England In 1st ODI .

England slumped to a humbling seven-wicket loss to South Africa in the first one-day international at Headingley. Success for the Proteas seemed a foregone conclusion as they dismissed England for 131 in 37.3 of the hosts’ 50 overs. Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj (4-22) and all-rounder Wiaan Mulder (3-33) did much of the damage at a gloomy Headingley after Proteas captain Temba Bavuma won the toss. South Africa opener Aiden Markram then hit a 23-ball fifty (eight fours, two sixes) and South Africa finished on 137-3 with almost 30 overs left.

TOSS-

South Africa won the toss and chose to field.

PLAYING XI-

England Squad:

The team is: Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Sonny Baker

South Africa Squad:

Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Wiaan Mulder, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi.

ENGLAND-

Bowling first on a cloudy morning, South Africa exploited helpful conditions. England got off to the shakiest of starts as late movement overhead left Ben Duckett a helpless party. Nandre Burger found one to angle away and barely kiss the opener’s blade before going through to the ‘keeper. The lone half-centurion in Jamie Smith (50) built two promising partnerships – 31 with Joe Root, who scored a 17-ball 14, and then 38 runs with skipper Harry Brook (18-ball 12). But the decline after that was sudden and fatal, due to some rather poor shot-selection.

Root fell, though, to a superb catch behind the wicket, to a near-identical delivery from Lungi Ngidi which moved away after pitching and found an edge. Ryan Rickelton held a low catch at second attempt to dismiss the in-form batsman, and Brook was run out taking a needless second run.

In a highly composed 54 off 47 balls during which he lost partners with consistent regularity, Smith was the only England batter to make any sort of fight. He was responsible for at least 50 per cent of the runs when he was dismissed with 102 runs on the board. The lower order only squeezed together 29 more than that.

After Mulder had extracted the half-centurion, Maharaj accounted for the dangerous pair of Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks in successive overs to leave England in tatters. Mulder soon created a double-wicket over to snap the backbone of the English middle-order as Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer were dismissed off successive balls. Maharaj blocked up the other two – catching Adil Rashid leg before and serving Sonny Baker a golden duck on debut – to end with a magnificent 4 for 22.

SOUTH AFRICA-

The 131 they managed was also the second lowest total for England at Headingley in this format, just marginally higher than 93 all out against Australia in the 1975 World Cup. South Africa made short work of that meagre target with Markram racing to a blazing fifty. The opener made 52 runs from just 23 balls – a country record in the format in the head-to-head against England.

Baker’s debut over in English colours was forgettable as well with Markram making full use of the short and overpitched stuff, picking three fours to gather 14 off it. His next, Markram smoked the maximums to the short stuff, making it a 20-run over. By the end of his four-over opening burst, Baker had gone for 56 runs and three boundaries to Markram (the latter of which brought up his 50).

At the opposite end stood Rickleton, who presented a stark contrast by maintaining a strike-rate barely above 50 throughout most of his innings. Despite initial nerves, he managed to forge a substantial 121-run opening partnership. Rickleton nearly found himself dismissed when an outside edge traveled low toward Root’s left at first slip. However, several replay reviews were needed to verify that the ball had indeed made contact with the ground. On the following delivery, Archer launched into a vigorous LBW appeal that England ultimately decided against reviewing, though later ball-tracking analysis revealed three red lights.

Despite their contrasting batting styles, South Africa managed to accumulate 67 runs during the PowerPlay phase alone. Markram might have departed shortly after reaching his fifty had it not been for the free-hit opportunity following Brydon Carse’s front-foot no-ball on the preceding delivery. A powerful pull shot to the midwicket boundary celebrated the opening partnership’s century milestone between Markram and Rickleton – marking South Africa’s first such achievement against England since Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock compiled 239 runs at Centurion in 2016.

Markram appeared destined for a personal century at one stage, but Adil Rashid dismissed him 14 runs shy of that milestone with England requiring just 12 additional runs. Rashid claimed two further consolation scalps – removing both Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs – on consecutive balls when the scores were tied. However, Dewald Brevis sealed the victory with a maximum after negotiating the hat-trick delivery, surpassing the target in fewer than 21 overs to secure South Africa’s 1-0 series advantage.

Brief scores:

England 131 all out in 24.3 overs (Jamie Smith 54; Keshav Maharaj 4-22, Wiaan Mulder 3-33) lost to South Africa 137/3 in 20.5 overs (Aiden Markram 86; Adil Rashid 3-26) by 7 wickets.