In a thrilling match on Friday, South Africa secured a 27-run victory over England in the first ODI in Bloemfontein. South Africa set a challenging target of 299, with Rassie van der Dussen scoring 111 off 117 deliveries and David Miller contributing 53 runs in a fifth-wicket partnership of 110.
Despite a strong opening performance from England’s Jason Roy and Dawid Malan, who put on 146 in a partnership, England fell short, finishing on 271 in 44.2 overs. Anrich Nortje and Sisanda Magala led the South Africa fightback, with 4/62 and 3/46 respectively. England’s Jofra Archer, who returned to the team after a two-year absence due to stress fractures, struggled to find his rhythm and ended up giving 81 runs from his 10 overs with one wicket.
England Captain, Jos Buttler, expressed his disappointment despite the team playing “some excellent cricket for the majority of the game.”