Alex Hales, the Nottinghamshire and England opening batsman who steered his country to a 2-0 lead in the One-Day International series in South Africa on Saturday, has warned his teammates against complacency with three matches to go.
The 26-year-old Notts Outlaw anchored England’s successful run-chase of 263-5 in Port Elizabeth with a battling 99 off 124 balls.
Hales missed out on a century in excruciating circumstances as he feathered a leg-side delivery from Kyle Abbott through to wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, the tall opener becoming the first player in history to be dismissed one short of a ton in both 50-over and T20 international cricket.
But, having averaged 17 during his debut Test series earlier in the tour, Hales - who also notched a fifty in the first ODI - is relieved to have found his form again.
“It was a difficult Test series – I think it’s quite a tough place to come and open the batting in Test cricket and I learned a lot from it,” he said.
“As soon as we’ve switched to the white ball I have felt confident in the nets and I’m pleased to have managed to find some form again.
“It was very disappointing,” Hales added on being dismissed so close to the three figure landmark.
“I guess if you could pick a ball to get when you’re on 99, one on your hip would be right up there; unfortunately it wasn’t to be but if someone offers you 99 at the start of the day you’re taking it.”
During his Notts career, Hales has forged a reputation for explosive performances at the top of the order, never more so than a 2015 campaign that brought six successive sixes in the NatWest T20 Blast against the Birmingham Bears, and a 61-ball 103 against the same opposition in a 50-over fixture at Welbeck.
The Buckinghamshire born opener’s latest match-winning performance was a far more sedate affair as he battled to ensure that there was no batting collapse following the early loss of fellow opener Jason Roy.
Jos Buttler’s late cameo of 48 off 28 balls secured victory with 3.4 overs to spare, demonstrating that Hales’ tempo had been perfectly judged for the situation.
“It’s probably the sort of wicket for ugly runs,” he said.
“As long as you don’t give your wicket away and take it deep, with the likes of Jos in the form that he’s in and batting all the way down to number 10, we knew as deep as we took it we’d get over the line.
“He looked like he was batting on a different wicket to the one I was!
“It was brilliant striking. That’s the sort of form that Jos is in. It’s brilliant and he’s a real match-winner.”
Saturday’s victory took England’s ODI record to ten wins and six defeats from 16 completed fixtures since the conclusion of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015.
Rapid scoring on flat pitches has more often than not been the order of the day during that period, making the latest victory, in bowler friendly conditions, all the sweeter.
“It was a great win for us in very different conditions to what we had in the summer against New Zealand, Australia and what we had the other night, so it’s great that we managed to adapt.
"We got off to a brilliant start with the ball. Toppers [Reece Topley] with his four wickets and then the two spinners (Adil Rashid & Moeen Ali) keeping it tight – it was a really good all-round effort.
“It’s a great start for us but it is only a start, against these guys – one of the best one-day teams in the world – we can’t afford to get complacent so we’re going to turn up to training on Monday and make sure it doesn’t happen.”
England are returning to the scene of their Ashes triumph in 2016 for Royal London One-Day Internationals against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
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