South Africa won the ODI series opener to take a lead in the three-match series.
Put to bat first in the second ODI at Lord’s, South Africa got off to a good start with a strong first-wicket partnership between Aiden Markram (49) and Ryan Rickelton (35). Matthew Breetzke also added a sensational 85 before the onus fell on younsters Tristan Stubbs and Dewald Brevis. During the 31st over off Saqib Mahmood, Stubbs was quite lucky when the bat slipped out of his hand, but it didn’t hit the wicket.
Stubbs was at 16 off 28 before Mahmood bowled the first ball of the 31st over. What looked like a defensive push off his bottom hand, Stubbs tried to hit the length ball towards mid-wicket. But the bat flew off his hand. In a desperate attempt to save his wicket, Stubbs dived and fell on the crease.
Mahmood was shocked to see the batter get so lucky.
Watch the video here:
At that time, Breeztke was batting at 41 off 48 balls. South Africa had put up 150/3 in 30 overs. They needed to accelerate to put up a decent total on the scoreboard to make things difficult for the hosts.
Previously, in the first ODI in Leeds, the Proteas embarrassed the hosts as England were all out for 131. South Africa chased down easily with seven wickets in hand.
ALSO READ:
Shortly before the start of the England tour, former batter Ashwell Prince backed the youngster to play across all formats of the game.
Barring a 74-run knock against Australia, Stubbs has been struggling with a poor run of form. However, Prince reckons that the 25-year-old has a long way to go for South Africa.
“When you are dipping in between formats, and you have different approaches, sometimes you are in a white-ball series where you want to play your more natural game, and maybe your mindset is not as free as you would like it to be. I think Tristan is probably in that space from a mental point of view at the moment. We are having those conversations, trying to encourage him to be a little freer, a little more positive, to be the guy who burst onto the scene in terms of his style of play,” Prince had said recently.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
