Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

2 1st ODI, Headingley (d/n) (13:00 BST)

4 2nd ODI, Lord's (d/n) (13:00 BST)

7 3rd ODI, Utilita Bowl, Southampton (11:00 BST)

10 1st Twenty20 international, Cardiff (d/n) (18:30 BST)

12 2nd Twenty20 international, Emirates Old Trafford (d/n) (18:30 BST)

14 3rd Twenty20 international, Trent Bridge (14:30 BST)

Teams for opening game.


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

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

Smith holding things together for England. Seem to remember he has been struggling in ODIs.

Well, one 50 in 13 games. But it was in his last innings.

Maharaj rocks the middle order with two strikes.

Buttler and the bowlers left now.

Not any more.

Mulder gets his second wicket. The important scalp of Buttler.

Now Archer, and he's on a hat trick.

Avoided.

Maharaj gets his third. Rashid.

England 131 all out

Smith 54

Maharaj 4-22
Mulder 3-33

Blimey. In the time it took me to dust, polish and vacuum the living toom, England got bowled out and SA have a third of the runs.

Chastening debut for Sunny B!

50 for Markran off 23.

Sonny B. Got to be some nickname there linked to toxic fruit juice?

Anyway, not bowling many jaffas.

Time to give Rash a bowl.

Why did Archer come in ahead of Rashid? Hmm.

England were never going to win after that collapse. But surprising Rashid didn't get on earlier and Baker got a second spell.

South Africa 137-3 in 21 overs

Markram 86
Rickelton 31*

Rashid 3-26

Also available for England: Rehan, Banton, Saqib, Joverton.

was that performance an oops by any chance?

after a week of endless articles about the new boy wonder, he gets bowled first ball and flogged for 56 off his first 4 overs

perhaps he'd have had a better chance if he'd been allowed to grow up first

This is what happens when England players go into a new series cold, with no time to get ready in the new format ..... thank goodness there's no chance of that being allowed to happen ahead of the ashes tour......... oh wait!

if only there'd been some 50 over domestic cricket scheduled recently so they could have had some practice first

At least Bethell lasted two balls.

Maybe Archer's first baller was down to his disbelief that he was batting above Rashid, someone with ten fc tons.