Keshav Maharaj and Wiaan Mulder rout England for 131

Keshav Maharaj and Wiaan Mulder spearheaded an excellent Proteas bowling and fielding display to send England cartwheeling for just 131 in the first ODI at Headingley in Leeds on Tuesday.

Maharaj showed every ounce of why he’s ranked the No 1 ODI bowler in the world with brilliant figures of 4/22, while Mulder also picked up an impressive 3/33 as the hosts suffered a dramatic collapse of 7/29.

New-ball pair Nandre Burger and Lungi Ngidi set the tone with the removal of Ben Duckett and Joe Root within the first Powerplay to reduce England to 44/2.

Jamie Smith (54 off 48 balls, 10x4) and captain Harry Brook looked to resurrect the home team’s innings with a 38-run partnership for the third wicket before arguably the pivotal moment of the match.

Brook appeared to be settling in comfortably, moving to 12 off 18 balls, before a horrible mix-up that allowed Tristan Stubbs to run out the England skipper with a rifle-like throw-in to wicket-keeper Ryan Rickleton.

Brook’s dismissal opened the door for Maharaj and Mulder to run through England’s brittle middle-order. 

Smith, shortly after reaching his half-century, failed to get on top of a Mulder bouncer, and found a sliding Corbin Bosch at fine-leg.

From thereon, England’s dressingroom was transformed into a revolving door with young Jacob Bethell (1) and Will Jacks (7) falling to Maharaj before Mulder stood on a hat-trick by removing Jos Buttler (15) and Jofra Archer (0) with successive deliveries.

Maharaj will also now be on a hat-trick in the next match at Lord’s on Thursday after hastening England’s collapse with the dismissals of Adil Rashid (9) and debutant Sonny Baker (0) within two balls.