Harry Brook’s winning streak as England’s white-ball captain came to a shuddering halt against South Africa, with Sonny Baker’s painful debut summing up a torrid display in the first Metro Bank one-day international.
Brook kicked off his limited-overs reign with six consecutive wins over the West Indies earlier this summer, but the honeymoon ended decisively after his side were thoroughly outclassed in a seven-wicket thrashing at his home ground of Headingley.
The hosts were bowled out for 131 in a mere 24.3 overs – just under half their allocation – with Jamie Smith’s 54 sticking out like a sore thumb amid a host of failures.
That was never likely to be enough to contain the Proteas, who raced home with 175 balls to spare in an assault that took Baker as collateral damage.
The 22-year-old had already been dismissed for a golden duck at number 11, wrapping up England’s limp batting effort, when he was handed the new ball and asked to make an impression on a game that had already gone.
Instead he was mauled by Aiden Markram and served up seven wicketless overs for 76 – the most expensive ODI analysis by an England debutant.
Baker has earned his spot with some bright performances in both the Rothesay County Championship and The Hundred but will need plenty of character to bounce back from a start like this.
He was not alone in struggling, though. Smith and Adil Rashid were the only players to earn a passing grade, the latter taking all three of England’s wickets in a lost cause.
There are obvious mitigating factors, most pertinently a chaotic preparation period caused by the tight turnaround between the end of The Hundred and the start of the series.
The squad only came together in full on Monday evening, with their solitary pre-match training session severely depleted as those involved in Sunday’s Lord’s final travelled north while their team-mates netted.
But even against that backdrop this was an incoherent display from a side who have earned their modest world ranking of eight in recent times.
Sent in to bat, England started on a positive note as Smith laced the fifth ball of the day for the first of his 10 boundaries.
Things soon took a turn for the worse, though, and rarely looked like recovering.
Ben Duckett fell in the third over, nicking a defensive push behind, before Joe Root edged Lungi Ngidi through to Ryan Rickelton, who held on one-handed at the second attempt.
Smith was scoring busily enough to take the total to a respectable 82 for two in the 14th over, but he could not do it alone.
Brook slapped his first ball to the ropes but was run out for 12 chasing a non-existent second run and, when Smith was well caught by Corbin Bosch after flicking Wiaan Mulder to fine-leg, the collapse accelerated.
They lost seven wickets for 29, with Keshav Maharaj helping himself to four for 22. There was no lavish spin on offer for the left-armer, but he still coaxed errors from Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks, Rashid and Baker.
South Africa were racing certainties to win at the changeover and batted like they knew it.
Baker shipped 14 from the first over, Markram welcoming him to the stage with three boundaries in four deliveries.
He followed with two sixes at the newcomer’s next visit as the runs flowed, with England’s travails continuing at the other end.
Jofra Archer thought he had Rickelton for a duck, only for Root’s low slip catch to be ruled out, then Brook failed to review a legitimate lbw appeal off the next ball.
Almost immediately, the game was over as a contest. After seeing two overs go for 34, Brook persevered with Baker, who improved slightly but lost the battle comprehensively as Markram greedily piled up 86.
Smith gave the Yorkshire faithful something to cheer when he removed him with a wonderful catch at cover.
Rashid added Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs with just one run needed and Dewald Brevis ended things with a big blow for six.
