SOUTH AFRICA: England took the diamond city by storm in their latest one-day international against South Africa with a 59-run victory in the third and final ODI of the series.
England vs South Africa
England dominated through impressive performances from Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan, and Jofra Archer. Buttler and Malan hit twin hundreds, powering England to its highest score in the series.
Meanwhile, Archer’s return from a 22-month injury absence proved England’s jewel with the ball as he took wickets in each of his three spells and finished with career-best figures of six for 40.
The 232-run stand between Buttler and Malan set the tone for the match, coming together after Lungi Ngidi’s triple strike with the new ball. The duo resurrected the English inning after being reduced to 20/3 in the eleventh over.
Despite the pressure from the South African attack, Buttler and Malan both played with cool heads, with Buttler eventually overtaking Kevin Pietersen as England’s leading one-day run scorer.
Malan hit multiple straight sixes, taking advantage of the ground’s dimensions, while Buttler upped the tempo with seven sixes. The English inning featured 19 sixes in total, the most in a one-day international inning in South Africa.
Moeen Ali also took advantage of South Africa’s increasingly ragged performance, clearing the ropes four times in a cameo of 41. Sam Curran and Adil Rashid hit sixes at the death, providing England with a formidable score to defend.
Archer’s return was just as impressive, with speeds considerably up on his previous game. He took two wickets in his first spell, reducing South Africa to 62 for two, and took two more wickets in his mid-innings return, putting England in the box seat.
In his third spell, he broke the seventh-wicket partnership between Heinrich Klaasen and Wayne Parnell, who stitched together 85 runs, securing the result for England.
South Africa looked on course for a stunning win with 68 runs needed in the final ten overs, with Klaasen and Parnell going great guns for the Proteas. However, Archer struck thrice quickly to fold the South African innings for 287.
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