Kagiso Rabada took four wickets as South Africa reduced England to 153 all out in the third ODI at Lord’s.
South Africa were completely outplayed by the hosts in the first ODI in Leeds. They were beaten by a more composed England side in the second match in Southampton. England clinched the series with that latter victory, and were able to rest key players like Ben Stokes ahead of the Champions Trophy.
By contrast, the Proteas went into the third match at Lord’s with a point to prove. They needed to produce an improved bowling and fielding performance if they were to take some confidence into the upcoming campaign.
Rabada and Wayne Parnell fired up front to reduce England to 20-6 in five overs. AB de Villiers, who had won the toss and elected to bowl for the third time in this series, was visibly delighted with the effort.
A series of full, swinging deliveries accounted for six of England’s top seven batsmen. The bowlers were well supported by the men behind the wicket, with Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis taking four sharp catches between them in the slips.
England were always going to battle to post a competitive total from there. Jonny Bairstow and David Willey provided some resistance with a 62-run partnership. Morné Morkel, playing in this first match in this series, battled to hit the right areas with any consistency.
Yet South Africa managed to strike at crucial times to ensure that England didn’t reach 200. Parnell dismissed Willey in the 20th over, and Quinton de Kock stumped Bairstow off the bowling of Keshav Maharaj in the 28th. Bairstow and England debutant Toby Roland-Jones put on 52 runs for the eighth wicket.
Maharaj claimed the last wicket of the England innings to finish with 3-25.
England 153 all out (31.1 overs) – Jonny Bairstow 51, Toby Roland-Jones 37 not out, Kagiso Rabada 4-39, Keshav Maharaj 3-25
South Africa need 154 runs to win
ENGLAND: 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (c), 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Adil Rashid, 8 David Willey, 9 Toby Roland-Jones 10 Steven Finn, 11 Jake Ball
SOUTH AFRICA: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (c), 5 David Miller, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Keshav Maharaj
Photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)
