Cricket News : Should England trust their batting or bowling to win the 3rd ODI against South Africa?

From the last couple of games, England has been failing as a batting team and relying more on their bowler. The bowlers relished the chance to stop their back-to-back ODI series defeat at home. England bowlers earned them a match to level the series against South Africa and grab a game to seal it. As we advance to the last match of the series, the question is where England should focus more to win.

Top-order failure in anchoring the innings

In the batting line-up full of power hitters and players who can anchor the innings, England's power hitters are in touch; however, they look to lag with the anchoring pair at the start of the innings. In the past few white ball series, the team struggled while chasing and even putting a good target when their top order toppled. England also created a different record by getting bowled out consecutively in the last five matches in their backyard, and they will try to break this streak in the final ODI against South Africa.

Joe Root said, "There's still a lot of players that aren't available for selection at the minute through injury. And in the last series, you didn't have big senior players step up with performances, like myself."

Since India came to England, the top order of England - Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy and Joe Root- have successfully scored 50+ in just one game. Their failures have put England on the backfoot in almost every match, putting pressure on the deep middle order. England heavily depends on power hitters like Liam Livingstone, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran and sometimes David Willey to take the team to a respectable total or to lead in a chase.

The bowling attack was successful in taking wickets to save England's day

While the middle-order tried to save the matches multiple times and failed to do so, their in-form bowlers added strength to the team with their terrific bowling. Of the seven white ball matches played, England could win only 3 of them, and all three were won by bowlers who defended as low a total as 201 in an ODI match.

England's new-found pacer Reece Topley gave them continuous match-winning performances against India and South Africa to trouble the top-order. Since India came to England, Reece Topley has taken 15 wickets, becoming the primary reason for England's victory. Now, with the return of Sam Curran and Adil Rashid, England's bowling attack has become more empowered against South Africa.

England's seniors and top order have to take responsibility, as their performance is the only reason for three wins in the last seven matches played. England's bowling is smoking fire, and power hitters are charging against the opponent's bowling attack; the only factor missing for them is their top order getting back in touch, and England will be back on track.

So, for England, their bowlers are more reliable for the final ODI against South Africa, looking at their recent performances, but batters need to step up to turn it into a match-winning contest. 

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