It was the ninth time the 23-year-old wicketkeeper cross the three-figure mark in his 53rd ODI. 

The English batsman took a liking to the Proteas bowling attack that lacked bite throughout the visitor’s innings.

England scored 399 for 9 in their allotted 50 overs, with wicketkeeper Job Buttler scoring 105 off 76 deliveries, while Alex Hayles (57), Joe Root (52) and Ben Stokes (57) scored half-centuries.

The South African-born opening batsman, Jason Roy, who was a doubtful starter ahead of the match, fell just two runs short of his 4th ODI half-century with 48.

Questions have to be asked about young seamer Kagiso Rabada being rested in the first ODI and not later in the series.

Faf du Plessis, who scored 55, and De Kock put on a sublime 110-run partnership for the second wicket, however, it was the home side’s only real partnership in the innings with the two being the only batsman to score more than 20 runs.

With the score 250 for 5, the heavens opened up in Bloemfontein, killing South Africa’s chances of taking a 1-0 lead.

Captain AB de Villiers says a resting Rabada was the right call.

“It was a call between quite a few people – the selectors, the management, the medical team and myself.

“We felt that it was really important for him to rest a bit with a lot of cricket still to come in this year.

“He still has a long future ahead of him, so I think it was the right call.”

De Villiers added that a really good batting wicket was prepared for the match and he feels it was a decent effort by his bowlers to take nine English wickets.

“It was a tough toss to lose, it was really hard on the bowlers, the first ten or fifteen overs.

“It took us a while to realise that it was an incredibly good wicket. We were a little slow to adapt with our lengths, but I’m not going to be too hard on the bowlers.

“I think they had that bad of a day, I think we showed that with the bat in hand – cruising at seven-and-a-half an over not even trying to push the run-rate up. It was a really good cricketing wicket, so I’m not going to be too tough on the bowlers.

“I think there were a few boundaries that were a bit soft throughout the innings, but overall I thought it was a decent effort to get them nine down.”

The win means England retain their unbeaten status against South Africa in Bloemfontein with it being their third win in four matches, while the 2005 ODI ended in a tie.

The two teams now move to Port Elizabeth for Saturday’s second ODI.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport