England’s young pacer Sonny Baker, who earned a national team call-up after impressing in the recently concluded franchise league The Hundred, had a debut to forget in international cricket. In a match where England suffered a seven-wicket defeat against South Africa, the 22-year-old fast bowler set an unwanted record, conceding 76 runs in 7 wicketless overs.
The ODI series between England and South Africa kicked off on Tuesday at Headingley, Leeds, marking the start of Baker’s international career. Despite taking 9 wickets in 7 matches with a commendable economy rate of 7.68 in The Hundred, Baker struggled against the Proteas. His pace was evident, but inconsistent lengths—either too short or overly full—saw him punished by South African batsmen, particularly Aiden Markram.
England, batting first, collapsed dramatically. Apart from Jamie Smith’s fifty, no other batter made a significant contribution, leading to England being bowled out for just 131 runs in 24.3 overs—their third-lowest ODI total and the fifth-fastest all-out in ODI history. South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj (4 wickets) and Wiaan Mulder (3 wickets) were the wreckers-in-chief.
Chasing 132, South Africa got off to a flyer. Baker, sharing the new ball with Jofra Archer, was taken apart. While Archer bowled a maiden and conceded just 5 runs in 3 overs, Baker leaked 44 runs in his first 3 overs, including 14 runs in his opening over, with Markram smashing three boundaries. Baker’s second and third overs cost 20 and 12 runs, respectively, before he was replaced by Brydon Carse, who slowed the scoring rate.
Baker finished with figures of 7-0-76-0, an economy rate of 10.85, setting a record for the most expensive bowling by an English bowler on ODI debut, surpassing Liam Dawson’s 8-0-70-0 (economy 8.75) against Pakistan in 2016. Globally, Baker’s figures rank as the second-most expensive in an ODI debut, behind West Indies’ Jedidiah Blades, who conceded 73 runs in 6 overs (economy 12.16) against Bangladesh in December 2024.
South Africa’s Aiden Markram led the charge, scoring the fastest fifty by a Proteas batter against England, reaching the milestone in just 23 balls. Markram’s 86 off 55 balls, studded with 13 fours and two sixes, powered South Africa to victory. Ryan Rickelton remained unbeaten on 31, while Adil Rashid claimed all three South African wickets. Needing one run to win, South Africa lost captain Temba Bavuma and Christian Stubbs but chased down the target with 175 balls and 7 wickets to spare.
This victory marked South Africa’s second-largest win by balls remaining against England, only behind their 184-ball win in the 2007 World Cup. The match, completed in just 272 balls, was the second-shortest ODI between the two sides, with the 2008 encounter (223 balls) being the shortest
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