ENG vs SA 1st ODI: Bowler Concedes 76 Runs in 7 Overs

ENG vs SA 1st odi, Sonny Baker: In the world of cricket, every player wants to count his debut as a golden moment, this is the day which the player wants to remember for the rest of his life, but what happened to England's young fast bowler Sonny Baker in the very first match was no less than a nightmare. Let's know how…

The debut match which he had entered the field with the intention of making memorable, turned out to be the worst match of his career. He was beaten so badly in the very first match that a shameful record was also registered in his name. Not only this, the team also lost the match and this bowler became the 'villain' of the defeat. This is because the English batsmen had already batted poorly, and on top of that this bowler bowled poorly.

This unlucky player is none other than 22-year-old young fast bowler Sunny Baker, who made his debut in the very first match of the ODI series against South Africa on 2 August 2025 and in the very first ODI of his career, such a record was added to his name, which no bowler would want to have in his name.

Was the match held in Leeds?

Actually, South Africa is on England tour these days. The first match of the 3 match ODI series was held in Leeds. Right-arm bowler Sunny Baker made his debut for England in this match. Jos Buttler gave him the debut cap. Everyone expected that Sunny would trouble the opposing batsmen with his speed and sharp bowling, but what happened surprised everyone.

English batsmen surrendered

England who came to bat first in the match could play 24.3 overs at home and were all out for just 131 runs. This means that England's batsmen surrendered at home. Except for opener Jamie Smith's 54 run innings, no other player could cross the score of 20 runs. For South Africa, Keshav Maharaj took the maximum 4 wickets. Wiaan Mulder took 3 wickets.

14 runs were conceded in the first over, 76 runs were conceded

Now it was England's turn to bowl. Debutant Sunny Baker bowled the first over in which he conceded 14 runs. Aiden Markram made his condition worse. Sunny bowled 7 overs in the entire match and was thrashed badly. 76 runs were conceded in 7 overs. That is, African batsmen thrashed him badly on every ball. Neither swing, nor speed nor any plan worked in his bowling. Especially Aiden Markram scored a lot of runs against him.

This shameful record was registered

By giving 76 runs in 7 overs, Baker became the bowler in England's history who conceded the most runs on his ODI debut. Not only runs, but his economy rate was also the worst among England's debut bowlers. He surpassed Liam Dawson (70 runs vs Pakistan, 2016) and David Lawrence (67 runs vs West Indies, 1991) as well as George Scrimshaw in terms of conceding the most runs. George conceded 66 runs against Ireland in Nottingham in 2023.

Match status, Markram became the hero

If we talk about the match, South Africa's batsmen gave a stormy start in response to England's 131 runs. South Africa chased the target of 132 runs by losing 3 wickets in 20.5 overs. Opener Markram scored 86 runs in 55 balls while Ryan Rickelton scored 31 runs.