In the second ODI against South Africa at Bloemfontein, Jos Butler clocked an impressive 94 knots and Harry Brooke (80) and Moen Ali (51) led England to a staggering 342/7 combined. led to a good score.
At bat England got off to a decent start, losing both Dawid Maran and Jason Roy within seven overs of him. Roy, whose LBW rating was voided after five overs, was put away by Lungi Ngidi’s nipbacker, while Maran was LBW rated by Wayne Parnell. At this point, Harry Brooke and Ben Duckett stabilized the innings at 49, a three-wicket record.
Brooke was the more aggressive of the two, cracking pulls, slogs and ramps. Ultimately, Duckett fell in the 17th over and was scalped by Keshav Maharaj. Brook and Buttler then built on their previous stand by sharing the Timely 73 Alliance. Brook showed his expertise against spinner Maharaj, locking back and choosing lengths quickly, landing a 2, 3 6 while Butler used his backswing. Brook also attacked Parnell over the mid-wicket fence.
After Brook was fired by his Aiden Markram, Moeen Ali and Buttler teamed up to form the 105 partnership. Having endured a long period of bad luck in the ODI, Moeen played with freedom, cracking drives, slog sweeps and pulls, putting together 50 before losing a wicket to Anrich Nortje. Butler went into overdrive after Moen collapsed.
Ngidi, in particular, was severely punished when Buttler and Sam Curran beat him by three sixes and borderline in his 47 overs. In Ngidi’s Next Over, the duo again played a salvo in his territory downtown and midwicket. Curran lost a wicket in the final and was bowled by Nortje, but with a score close to 350 on the board England were assessing their chances of leveling the series. For the hosts, Nortje took 2 wickets, but like most other bowlers it was expensive and went up to 7 wickets or more.
Brief scores: England 342/7 in 50 overs (Jos Buttler 94*, Harry Brook 80; Anrich Nortje 2-64) v South Africa