England did lose the series opener versus South Africa one sided but Sonny Baker had a tough day amongst all. Making his debut, he went wicketless and conceded 76 runs in 7 overs which now makes him the most expensive bowler on debut in England men’s cricket history.
Before the toss, Baker’s day may have reached its zenith when his new teammate Jos Buttler, a fellow graduate of King’s College, Taunton, gave him his England cap in front of his family. Beginning with his own role in that score line, a first-ball duck thanks to Keshav Maharaj, he was in a precarious position after England was bowled out for 131 in 25 overs.
The ball for the first over of South Africa’s chase was eventually given to Baker. His spectacular performances for Manchester Originals in the Hundred had given him an air of form and confidence going into the match, but his combined statistics of 6 for 81 in his previous 67 balls were insufficient to prepare Aiden Markram in a major hurry. Markram raced to a 23-ball half-century after his sluggish speed was smashed for three fours in his opening five balls and 56 in his first four-over performance.
“It’s not probably the ideal start, having to defend 130,” Brook admitted at the post-match presentations, adding that England had “no excuses” after a batting display that “wasn’t good enough”.
“Everybody will get behind him,” Brook added. “That’s the nature of this group. We are such a tight-knit group. We’re all good mates. We spend a lot of time away from the game together as well.
“He’s had a tough day, but the way that he just kept on cracking on and digging deep, to keep on running in and try and get wickets there for us, even after getting a little bit of tap, was awesome to see. And that’s exactly what we asked of every bowler.”
After South Africa’s 67-run powerplay, Brook acknowledged that England used the rest of the innings as a makeshift practice session and went back to Baker for a second spell in the 12th over, which was down the hill from the Kirkstall Lane End. He did better at first, giving up only two runs in his fifth over, but Markram and Ryan Rickelton kept hitting him after that, reaching 121 in 18 overs with their opening stand.
“I was just trying to get him a wicket, to be honest,” Brook said. “Obviously we didn’t get off to the greatest of starts with the ball. After the start that they got, I knew that we were never really going to win the game. It was just a matter of trying to get him a pole at that time, and the lads trying to develop and upskill their skills, that they’ve been working on in practice and trying to take them into a game.
“The way that they chased that, with Markham coming out and going really ultra-aggressive, was the perfect way to chase a low score, especially in the powerplay, when you’ve only got one or two people out,” he added. “It is tough to defend. So [Baker] might have missed his execution the odd time, but Markram played some extraordinary shots, so hats off to him.”
Markram fell to Adil Rashid with a century within striking distance after finishing with 86 off 55 balls.
“I definitely didn’t pre-plan anything,” he said of his assault on Baker. “I’ve never faced him before, and there’s some really good talk about him and his abilities. So really I just trying to watch the ball. You want to see the action first, but if you can get a few away early, and you can get ahead of him, then you try and do that. But it won’t always be the case. If he’s got it on a string, he’ll be a really good bowler, for sure.”
