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England were not quite at their best, but still had more than enough to blast past a poor South African outfit in the 2019 Cricket World Cup opener at The Oval.
The hosts, who came into the tournament as favourites under all sorts of pressure, showed few signs of nerves throughout the contest, as they got the better of the Proteas by 104 runs.
Faf du Plessis won the toss for South Africa and elected to bowl first on a pitch which appeared to have a covering of grass on it and moisture underneath, which should have made things interesting.
That covering of grass did nothing throughout the game though, but the decision for du Plessis to hand the new ball to spinner Imran Tahir was still a shock.
Tahir made it count for his skipper, getting rid of Jonny Bairstow in the first over, but from there, the game was very much one-way traffic as England dominated every facet of the game.
Joe Root and Jason Roy originally set about rebuilding their innings, and while their dismissals one after the other weren’t part of the plan, it allowed Ben Stokes to stand up and be the guiding light for the hosts as they racked up a score north of 300.
He batted out most of the innings, ending with 89 at better than a run per ball in what was a phenomenal knock.
South Africa’s bowlers were generally far too short in their length throughout the innings, and while the pitch did little and 311 seemed a gettable chase, South Africa would have been disappointed with where things stood during the innings break.
Then, they ran into a juggernaut back out on the field during the second half of the day.
England stuck to their plans, digging the ball in and not allowing Quinton de Kock and others to play their natural games, while the ground fielding was a highlight as they saved run after run.
When they got Quinton de Kock out though with Hashim Amla already retired from a concussion (from a Jofra Archer bouncer) and joined in the rooms by Aiden Markram and Faf du Plessis who had both got themselves out, it seemed like all hope was just about lost for the Proteas.
Late resistance from Rassie van der Dussen and Andile Phehlukwayo gave them something to cheer about, but not enough to get anywhere near the total set by England, who proved they are going to be very difficult to beat during this tournament.
Jofra Archer was the pick of the English bowlers, grabbing three wickets in the contest and being deadly accurate with his variations, while a Ben Stokes catch on the boundary to get rid of Phehlukwayo will be talked about for years to come.
England will now get ready to face Pakistan on Monday, while South Africa will be desperate for their first victory against Bangladesh on Sunday.
England: 8/311 (50) – Ben Stokes 89, Eoin Morgan 57, Jason Roy 54, Joe Root 51, Lungi Ngidi 3/66), defeat South Africa 10/207 (39.5) – Quinton de Kock 68, Rassie van der Dussen 50, Jofra Archer 3/27)
