Rassie van der Dussen’s 4th century helped South Africa post 298-7 in their 50 overs in the 1st ODI against England at the Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein.
With the new sponsee advertising boards, the boundaries have been brought in by 10-15 meters, which has made the field smaller than in the past.
The rain over the last three days also slowed the outfield, making along-the-ground fours a lot more tricky.
The surface was good for batting, and Bavuma chose to bat first in Bloemfontein as a result, with chasing under lights deemed to be harder according to the pundits on the day.
The opening pair of Quinton de Kock and Bavuma started off with a composed approach, running their ones and twos, and finding the gaps to the boundary when it was on offer.
They got to 61 four balls into the 9th over, when Bavuma threw his wicket away after getting a brilliant start of 36 off 28 balls, the introduction of spin with Moeen Ali seeing Bavuma mistime a shot to Sam Curran at mid-on.
The game was now solidly set up for the new batsman to come in and take his time to get in, while De Kock faced enough balls to edge him closer to his free-flowing self.
The first Powerplay ended with SA on 75-1.
De Kock also lost his wicket at a crucial time, not expecting the bounce from Curran, his attempted pull feathering the ball to the keeper. He finished on 37 off 41 balls.
Markram also lost his wicket cheaply, going too hard at the ball and hitting Curran directly into the hands of short cover.
SA was reduced to 116-3 one ball into the 22nd over.
Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen continued to build momentum, the former bringing up his 12th half-century in 63 balls.
This took the team 171-3, but Klaasen missed his sweep shot losing his wicket lbw on 30 off 32 balls.
Miller and Rassie helped SA pass the 200-run mark, with the aim to set up a slaughter in the last couple of overs.
The pair did not manage to do that. Van der Dussen brought up his 4th career century, the pick of his shots a pull-shot pirouette for six that he hit off a free hit delivery from Jofra Archer. He helped SA to 281 before losing his wicket in the deep cover region. He finished with 111 off 117 deliveries, with only 6 fours and 1 six, with the majority of his innings runs coming from singles and twos.
At this point, Miller was on 46 off 49 balls with just over two overs left in the game.
Miller managed to reach his half-century with a boundary but then lost his wicket trying to go for a maximum, David Willey took a brilliant juggle catch on the long-on boundary. He hit 53 off 56 deliveries.
South Africa ended their innings on 298-7.
The average score in the last 10 games in Bloem has been 286.
Sam Curran was the pick of the bowlers for England, with 3-35.
