They say that if you fail to prepare you should prepare to fail, and it turns out that is what England were doing across the two understaffed days of training with which they launched themselves into this series.
England proceeded to get bowled out for 131 in 24.3 overs before Aiden Markram humbled their bowlers – picking on the debutant Sonny Baker – and propelled South Africa towards victory by seven wickets, sealed with 175 balls to spare.
A week before this match Temba Bavuma’s team, having just won a one-day international series in Australia, were in the middle of a convoluted, lengthy journey from Queensland to Yorkshire via Sydney, Singapore and London.
It was England, though, who looked jet‑lagged by the less long-distance but more recent whiplash turnaround from the Hundred. Several squad members, with two selected for this series opener, were engaged in that competition’s final as recently as 48 hours earlier and in their absence the team’s first training session on Sunday was attended by just a handful of players, their second had less than two-thirds of the squad present, and the outcome was a powder‑puff display against match-honed and whip‑smart opponents.
Harry Brook described talk of his team’s poor build-up as “an excuse” and insisted: “We’re not a team that makes excuses. We’re a team that tries to play our best cricket as much as possible. We’ve just got to crack on now and put that performance behind us.”
Until they lost two wickets in two balls with the scores tied and the die cast the tourists’ performance had been as blemish‑free as England’s was error‑strewn. The home side’s collapse was hastened by some excellent fielding, with outstanding catches from Corbin Bosch to dismiss Jamie Smith – who later produced a superb grab of his own to end Markram’s rampage on 86 – and from Markram himself, diving to his left at slip, to account for Jofra Archer, as well as an excellent throw from Tristan Stubbs to facilitate Brook’s run-out.
The ICC’s rankings make Keshav Maharaj officially the best bowler in the world in this format and the spinner bewitched England across 33 deliveries that brought four wickets and the home side to their knees. On a pitch that offered no demons and an outfield that gave no encouragement to chasing fielders a superficially strong side folded feebly, losing their last seven wickets for just 29 runs. Maharaj said his side did not believe England’s half-baked preparations indicated they had been underestimated, but notably put their good performance down to “the guys putting in a lot of work, not just prior to this series but prior to Australia as well”.
England’s efforts started badly, with Ben Duckett caught behind in the third over for just five, and improved only moderately from there before nosediving theatrically once Maharaj was introduced. Only four players reached double figures and Smith alone, with a score of 54, managed more than 15. But it was the opener who precipitated the collapse when, having reached his half-century from 46 balls, carefully laying the groundwork for a potentially match-defining contribution, he got out almost immediately.
That took England’s score to 102 for four and their partnerships from there contributed five, 10, two, nothing, 12 and nothing.
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Baker’s selection added some interest to South Africa’s inevitable procession, though opening the bowling in defence of such a humble total might be the harshest of all possible debut assignments. It was pressure he struggled to handle and his first four overs duly went for 56, with Markram alone scoring 45 of them, though he improved in returning for three more after a change of ends.
“He got a bit of tap at the start but the way he kept cracking on and digging deep was awesome to see and that’s exactly what we ask of every bowler,” Brook said. “He might have missed his execution the odd time but Markram played some unbelievably good shots as well, so hat’s off to him.”
England might have shifted the momentum had the ball not bounced inches in front of Joe Root’s hands after Archer found Ryan Rickelton’s edge with the opener yet to score, or if they had reviewed an on-field not‑out decision when Archer trapped him lbw with his next ball. On a day of many failures, that one got lost in the deluge.