Winning the toss and inviting South Africa to bat at Lord’s, skipper Harry Brook confirmed a surprise change in the England lineup for the 2nd ODI against South Africa on Thursday.

With pacer Sonny Baker entering record books for all the wrong reasons in his ODI debut at Headingley, England replaced the expensive speed merchant with pacer Saqib Mahmood in the series decider at the Home of Cricket. “Nothing against Sonny, we feel that's the right decision,” Brook said at the toss.

South Africa’s ruthless Headingley rout exposed England’s batting frailties, but Brook had refused to dodge the blame in Leeds. The England captain is not the one to make excuses after Aiden Markram (86) and Keshav Maharaj (4/22) handed South Africa a commanding 1-0 series lead in Leeds.

England is not a team that makes excuses
“It’s not good enough. I can’t say much more than we’ve just had a bad day,” said Brook, who was run out for 12 before England posted only 131 to lose the 1st ODI by seven wickets. “Nobody wants to come and watch that,” he added.

The England skipper refused to pin the blame on England’s schedule as the hosts played the series opener in less than 48 hours after the Hundred final. Brook headlined the blockbuster Test series against India, which was followed by the 100-ball tournament. “How many players were there in the Test series? In my eyes, that’s an excuse. We’re not a team that makes excuses,” Brook told reporters.

What Brook said about Baker

The England captain also defended Sonny Baker after the debutant capped off a nightmare outing at Headingley. "Everybody will get behind him. That's the nature of this group. We are such a tight-knit group. We're all good mates. We spend a lot of time away from the game together as well,” Brook said.

Baker bagged the unwanted record of bowling the most expensive figures ever by an England debutant in ODIs. "He's had a tough day, but the way that he just kept on cracking on and digging deep, to keep on running in and try and get wickets there for us, even after getting a little bit of tap, was awesome to see. And that's exactly what we asked of every bowler," the 26-year-old added.