Manchester| England has started to look into all sorts of troubles after their captain Eoin Morgan and all-rounder Ben Stokes announced their retirement. India defeated England by a margin of 2-1, both in the ODI and T20I series, and seldom did England look like the side they used to be under the captaincy of Eoin Morgan. The absence of talismans like Morgan and Ben Stokes is certain to make things worse for England, but right now, it does not seem as if they have any way out of their problems.
Problems kept on piling up for the English cricket team when South Africa's tour began and the hosts looked in complete disarray as they could not deliver with the bat. After the 1st ODI against South Africa, people started questioning Jos Buttler and his capabilities as the skipper of the English cricket team but Buttler had some other ideas in his mind.
England skittled out South Africa for 83 to win the rain-affected second one-day international by 118 runs on Friday and send their three-match series to a decider. The start of the match at Old Trafford was delayed for almost four hours, meaning it was reduced to 29 overs per side and England scrambled to post a total of 201 after being put in to bat.
A strong bowling performance immediately put South Africa on the back foot, with the tourists reduced to 6-4 after four overs as Janneman Malan, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram were all out for ducks. The spin of Adil Rashid (3-29) and Moeen Ali (2-22) finished off the South Africans in just 20.4 overs. The only real resistance came from Heinrich Klassen, who hit 33 before being stumped by Jos Buttler, soon after England's wicketkeeper-captain showed brilliant reactions to run out Markram with a close-range throw.
The final ODI will take place in Leeds on Sunday. South Africa won the first match by 62 runs at Durham on Tuesday, when England allrounder Ben Stokes made his final ODI appearance. At Old Trafford, England stumbled to 72-5 then recovered thanks to big-hitting from Liam Livingstone (38 off 26 balls) and Sam Curran (35 off 18). Dwaine Pretorius had a career-best 4-36 after replacing allrounder Andile Phehlukwayo, who was out for a concussion.
After Buttler's 19 off 27 balls, Livingstone went on the attack and hit three straight sixes at the start of one over by Anrich Nortje to get England back into the game. Curran's hitting was even more brutal, smashing two fours and three sixes, while David Willey weighed in with a run-a-ball 21.
England was dismissed with five balls left in the innings.
(Inputs from PTI)
