Umpire Marais Erasmus standing at square leg. (Screengrab) Jason Roy made 113 for England but his century went in vain as South Africa fought back to win the 1st ODI on Friday.
Roy made 113 for England and his opening stand of 146 off 118 balls with Dawid Malan (59) appeared to put the visitors on course for an easy win chasing 299.
But England went from 146-0 inside 20 overs to 271 all out as South Africa’s fast bowlers turned it around to win the game in Bloemfontein.
Anrich Nortje claimed 4-62, Sisanda Magala 3-46 and Kagiso Rabada 2-46 for South Africa.
However, during the run-chase, a moment of controversy occurred when umpire Marais Erasmus (standing at short-leg) was spotted looking at the opposite direction even as Jason Roy was facing a delivery while batting on 97.
This led to a lot of reactions on social media with a few cricket fans claiming – “even the umpire is disinterested in ODI cricket”.
“What was he doing turning on the other side,” asked another fan on Twitter.
— 🗂️ (@TopEdgeCricket2) January 27, 2023
Marais Erasmus has no interest in ODI cricket at all 😅 #SAvENG pic.twitter.com/qnsjPe7A0j
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) January 28, 2023
Marais Erasmus 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/TvcZI5VT20
— Aatif Nawaz (@AatifNawaz) January 27, 2023
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Roy and Malan gave England a commanding start, and the South Africa-born Roy went on to thump 11 fours and four sixes in his first ODI century against a top-tier team since 2019.
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