Unlike England's red ball resurgence, the new-looking white ball team under wicketkeeper-batsman and newly appointed skipper Jos Buttler looks in all sorts of problems. England have a tough job on their hands as they are just a couple of months away from the T20I World Cup that is scheduled to be played in Australia later this year. On the other hand, the visitors who were not even considered favorites when the series started, turned things around in a dramatic manner. South Africa were gone for their money in the first T20I, but they came back in the series and have left England stunned.
The English side recently has been jolted by the retirements of their middle-order icons Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes. The world cup winning all-rounder who is famous for his exploits in the Headingley Test match announced his retirement from the 50-over format of the game on the eve of the first ODI which England were scheduled to play against South Africa.
The English Cricket Board (ECB) has somehow chosen to overlook Stokes who is still available for the shortest formats of the game. The onus falls upon Jos Buttler who seems to be weighed down by the burden of captaincy. The English dressing room looked grim when wickets started to crumble while they were chasing a huge total of 191. Jason Roy in particular looks far from his best and it is high time for Matthew Motts and Jos Buttler to address England's opening woes. Tabraiz Shamsi in particular was the architect of South Africa's victory as he scalped 5 wickets which included the likes of Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, David Willey, Chris Jordan, and Adil Rashid. The left-armed spinner bamboozled England's lower middle order which left the in-form Jonny Bairstow stranded at the other end.
"With the bat, we never imposed ourselves, never managed to wrestle the initiative and put pressure on the opposition. I think that a little bit of timidness is probably the thing we are frustrated with the most. We want to be known as a team that wants to be brave and take risks", said Buttler as the Miller-led South African team inflicted a heavy loss of 90 runs upon them.
Jonny Bairstow top scored for England with a 30-ball 27. Tabraiz Shamsi was adjudged the man of the match whereas Reeza Hendricks was awarded the player of the series. South Africa now moves to Lord's to take on Ben Stokes and his dominant English red ball side in a 3 match Test series that commences on August 17, 2022.
