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England vs South Africa: Eoin Morgan inspires victory as Ben Stokes suffers injury scare

Centurion: Eion Morgan secured his 11th century for England on Wednesday: AFP/Getty Images
Centurion: Eion Morgan secured his 11th century for England on Wednesday: AFP/Getty Images

Eoin Morgan scored his 11th one-day century to inspire England to victory over South Africa – but the home team were left worried about Ben Stokes’ fitness with the Champions Trophy a week away.

Stokes bowled only two overs before leaving the field in the 20th over with a sore left knee, for which he was given treatment. Though he was off the field for only six overs, he was not called into the attack again.

The all-rounder injured the same knee in the Test match here against Sri Lanka last May, and did not play for England again until July. Although England would be encouraged that he returned to the field, Stokes had more conversations with members of England’s medical team during the remainder of the match.

Stokes returned earlier this month from a stint in the Indian Premier League, where he was named the tournament’s most valuable player. England start their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh on June 1, and it remains to be seen whether Stokes plays in the next two matches of this series, at Southampton on Saturday and Lord’s two days later.

Morgan played down fears about Stokes, insisting he would have been fit to bowl again if necessary. He said: “When he came back on the field he could have bowled, but we took a wicket when he came on and I felt it wasn’t worth the risk to bowl him again.

“An extra day or two with ice…There is no swelling or significant signs of an injury, but we will assess the over the next couple of days. He had the green light to bowl, though.

“He did the right thing to go off the field and get it checked. A knee injury can leave you out for six months or a year, so it’s quite significant if it does happen, but he came back on and was running around.”

Morgan, the England captain, made 107 and combined with man-of-the-match Moeen Ali to put on 117 in 13.3 overs when England were wobbling. Moeen scored 77 not out from just 51 deliveries to hustle England to 339 for six, which would prove too much for South Africa. They finished 267 all out, losing by 72 runs as Chris Woakes took four for 38 in his first game for England since his time in the IPL.

Stokes’ injury aside, it was a perfect day for Morgan: he played the decisive innings and made smart bowling changes, particularly to bring back Liam Plunkett from the Rugby Stand End to remove Faf Du Plessis. Morgan also used the review system to good effect as Hashim Amla was given out leg-before to Mark Wood after a referral to the TV umpire.

Chasing 340, South Africa suffered an early setback when Quinton De Kock, their powerful opener, fell to Chris Woakes. Amla and Du Plessis then made comfortable progress until they departed in successive overs.

Amla (73 from 76 deliveries) was undone by the review system and soon afterwards, Du Plessis (67 from 61) tried to flick Plunkett through midwicket, misjudged it and was caught behind.

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Thereafter, it was England’s match. AB De Villiers (45 from 38) made the only other significant contribution as South Africa’s batsmen had only themselves to blame. Both JP Duminy and David Miller picked out Stokes in the deep with poorly-judged strokes, and Chris Morris miscalculated a slog-sweep. A ninth-wicket stand of 37 between Wayne Parnell and Kagiso Rabada was entertaining but irrelevant.

Morgan and coach Trevor Bayliss could also congratulate themselves for choosing Moeen over local favourite Jonny Bairstow, despite the latter’s outstanding batting form for his country. As well as his decisive innings, Moeen finished with two for 50 from nine overs.

Fellow spinner Adil Rashid’s leg-breaks brought him two for 69 from his 10 – yet the real damage was done by the partnership between Morgan and Moeen when England batted.

Under Morgan, England have become ferocious counter-attackers in the closing stages of an innings. After choosing to field first, De Villiers would have been happy with his bowlers’ work by the 35th over, when England were 198 for five, with Alex Hales (61 from 60) making the only score above 50. Joe Root (37), Stokes (25) and Jos Buttler (7) had all failed to deliver.

Yet with Morgan moving well at one end, Moeen hit the accelerator, striking three sixes in a single over from Imran Tahir. Morgan hit five sixes of his own, including the hook off Kagiso Rabada that took him past 100.

With the depth of their batting and variety in their bowling attack, England have serious talent in one-day cricket. In a little less than a month, we will know whether it was enough to bring them a first global trophy in the 50-over cricket.