Rassie van der Dussen Ton sets Protesup for opening England Win

DURHAM: A career-best century from Rassie van der Dussen helped the Proteas take a 1-0 lead in their three-match One-Day International (ODI) series against England thanks to a convincing 62-run victory at the Riverside in Durham on Tuesday.

The right-hander stuck an excellent and measured 134 off 117 balls (10 fours) on a blistering hot day in the English northeast, where the home bowlers toiled in the face of outstanding South African batting, which delivered the highest ever total for the tourists in the country.

They scored a massive 333 for five with Van der Dussen’s performance – his third ODI century – backed up brilliantly with the bat by Aiden Markram (77 off 61 balls, 9 fours) and Janneman Malan (57 off 77 balls, 5 fours).

Then with the ball, Anrich Nortje shone brightest by claiming four for 53, with fine support coming through the spinners Markram (2/25), Tabraiz Shamsi (2/53) and stand-in captain Keshav Maharaj (1/42). Lungi Ngidi also bagged one for 49 to leave the world champions all out for 271 in 46.5 overs.

But the victory was undoubtedly set up by the batsmen after the Proteas won the toss and batted first. After Quinton de Kock fell early for 19, Malan and Van der Dussen strung together an impressive second-wicket partnership of 109 to lay down a strong foundation.

Once the former fell, the latter was joined by Markram and put on a record 151 for the next wicket to lift South Africa up to 295, before England restricted scoring at the back end of the innings. The Van der Dussen-Markram third-wicket stand was the highest for South Africa against their opponents. 

Van der Dussen’s effort also saw him became only the third South African to score an ODI century against the hosts in England, following in the footsteps of Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis.

England’s chase began well enough as they reached 102 for none in the 19th over. But once the spinners were introduced, they put the squeeze on to send the asking rate rocketing. In the end, the hosts could not keep up and the South Africans closed out a strong win. 

The second match of the series takes place at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester on Friday.

MATCH SUMMARY:

England vs Souh Africa, 1st ODI, Durham

South Africa 333-5 (50 overs; R Dussn 133, A Markram 77; L Livingstone 2-29)
England 271-10 (46.5 overs; J Root 86, J Bairstow 63; A Nortje 4-53)

South Africa won by 62 runs