ENG VS RSA - 1st ODI, South Africa tour of England, 2022

England would have wanted to send off Ben Stokes with a win but that was not possible. Eoin Morgan retired less than a month ago and today Stokes, England have a transitional phase to go through and the start under Jos Buttler has not been good. They have two more games to turn this around and ensure they don't lose consecutive series at home. As for South Africa, they could not have asked for a better start; they recorded their highest ODI total in England and the bowlers came to the party. The second ODI is on Friday. Do join us for that. Until next time, goodbye and stay safe..

Rassie van der Dussen | Player of the Match: Pretty hot today. We are used to it but it was quite dry and windy. We came into this series knowing we have to play smart cricket, physically it was hard but the game plan was to get into a good position and run hard. He (Markram) played brilliantly, all the guys who came in showed great intent. We are pretty happy with the batting effort. We will see how we did tomorrow and be ready to go again in three days' time.

Keshav Maharaj | South Africa captain: The boys were clinical. Rassie set the tone with the bat and the rest followed. We didn't expect the heat wave in England at the this time but we felt at home. He (Phehlukwayo) is doing much better, bit of concussion and a cut, I am sure he will recover. He underestimated the size of me (laughs). Rassie set up the tempo of the innings and Aiden came in and continued that. His (Markram) bowling is underrated and happy he got his reward today. He (Nortje) stuck to his discipline and it was a matter of time before he got his reward. 

Jos Buttler | England captain: I thought it was a good toss to win and we could not find that spark with the ball. It was a fantastic partnership between Rassie and Markram and we were not able to break that. We have to pick wickets in the middle part of the game and they batted well, used the pockets of space in the field perfectly and ran hard. I don't think it is because of lack of effort, the two guys at the top are explosive but South Africa bowled well and didn't allow them to get going. We have been improving through the games we have played, we are missing some senior guys but it creates opportunities for the others. From myself and the rest of the England supporters we want to say thank you (to Ben Stokes). Every day he turns up he puts in a 100 percent and has been a great ambassador of the game.

Vishnu Prasanth: A good learning for this new look English side. With Morgan and Stokes retiring, the batting line-up will suffer a few issues in terms of roles and responsibilities along the way under Buttler, until they find their rhythm.

21:05 Local Time, 20:05 GMT, 01:35 IST: South Africa read the conditions perfectly and more importantly adapted to it. They won a good toss and Maharaj decided to bat, Rassie van der Dussen along with Malan and Markram got them to a massive 333 before the bowlers executed their plans. The pitch slowed down as the game progressed which brought the South African spin twins and Markram into play. Even though England put up a 100+ opening stand they were never fluent and Joe Root was the only one who could time the ball on that sluggish surface. He kept going at one end but found no support from the others, he departed to Nortje in the 45th over and the pacer wrapped up the innings quickly with a 4-fer. Hang around for the presentations ..

Nortje to Brydon Carse, out Caught by Pretorius!! South Africa win by 62 runs. They take a 1-0 lead. Handshakes all around and it is a happy South African bunch. Ben Stokes also being congratulated in the England dressing room, not the perfect ending to his ODI career. This was the short ball and Carse is cramped on the pull, miscues it to long-on and Pretorius makes no mistake. Brydon Carse c Pretorius b Nortje 14(8) [4s-2]

Nortje to Brydon Carse, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Nortje to Brydon Carse, wide, tries to follow the batter but ends up spraying it down leg, de Kock dives to his left to make the stop

Nortje to Brydon Carse, no run, pacy short ball is the response from Nortje, Carse tries to hook but is beaten for pace as the ball flies over the top-edge

Nortje to Brydon Carse, FOUR, smashed! Full and in the slot, Carse backs away and gets under this delivery, thumps it straight back over Nortje and collects the boundary

Nortje to Brydon Carse, 2 runs, angled into the batter, Carse flicks it uppishly and just manages to clear a leaping mid-wicket fielder, two added

Nortje to Matty Potts, 1 run, banged into the wicket, Potts makes room and directs it towards point

Ngidi to Brydon Carse, FOUR, not where he intended but Carse gets the boundary. He charges down and swings across the line to the short of length delivery, the ball hits the higher part of the bat and flies over backward point

Ngidi to Brydon Carse, 2 runs, he's not picking the slower ball, tries to heave it and miscues it towards deep mid-wicket, the ball lands safely in front of the fielder

Ngidi to Matty Potts, 1 run, pace off delivery and Potts flicks it to deep backward square

Ngidi to Matty Potts, no run, slower ball around off, Potts makes room and swings through the line, misses and the ball almost kissed the off-pole

Ngidi to Brydon Carse, 1 run, off-pace delivery and Carse is completely deceived, he manages to chip it through mid-wicket

Ngidi to Matty Potts, 1 run, short of length on off, Potts drops it in front of cover and calls for quick single

Lungi Ngidi [8.0-0-40-1] is back into the attack

Matty Potts, right handed bat, comes to the crease