Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler hit centuries to secure a 59-run victory for England in the third and final one-day international against South Africa at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley.
With 118 from Malan and 131 from Buttler, Buttler led England to a score of 346 for seven. South Africa’s score was 287, and fast bowler Jofra Archer took a career-high six wickets for 40 runs.
South Africa had already won the series by taking the first two games, but England’s captain, Jos Buttler, said Wednesday’s win was a reward for his team’s hard work during the short series.
“There’s been some really good stuff. Guys getting hundreds and Jofra Archer was brilliant. We’ve got a good thing going. We’re building nicely,” said Buttler, who was named player of the match and player of the series.
South African captain Temba Bavuma said the series win was important. “We came in under a lot of pressure. We’ve done ourselves justice and come closer to automatic qualification for the World Cup.”
South Africa needs to win one of their last two games against the Netherlands to move ahead of West Indies and into one of the eight qualifying spots for the World Cup Super League. Sri Lanka could still move ahead of them, though, if they beat New Zealand in an upcoming series.
Malan, who bats left-handed, and his captain, who bats right-handed, made a fourth-wicket partnership of 232 runs off 211 balls. They joined forces when their team was in trouble at 14-3 in the sixth over.
The partnership got off to a slow start, but once they took charge on a slow pitch, they scored a lot of runs.
England got 217 runs in the last 20 overs of their innings. They kept scoring quickly even after the two players with the most runs were out.
South Africa decided to play the game without their two fastest bowlers, Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada, and they didn’t seem to be able to stop the scoring.
After 30 overs, South Africa was ahead by 59 runs when it was their turn to bat. England had more hitting power in the middle overs, and Archer and Adil Rashid, who had three wickets for 68 runs, took important ones.
Archer bowled consistently at speeds of more than 145 km/h in his second international match after a long break caused by an injury (90mph).
Photo by Louis Botha/BackpagePix
