Second Royal London one-day international, Emirates Old Trafford |
England 201 (28.1 overs): Livingstone 38 (26), Curran 35 (18); Pretorius 4-36 |
South Africa 83 (20.4 overs): Klaasen 33 (40); Rashid 3-29, Topley 2-17, Moeen 2-22 |
England won by 118 runs; level series at 1-1 |
Scorecard |
England level the one-day international series against South Africa with an emphatic 118-run win in a rain-affected game.
South Africa were dismissed for 83 in the 29th over after a devastating new-ball burst reduced them to 6-3.
David Willey was the first to dismiss de Kock, before Buttler ran out Markram before he faced a ball.
In just 20.4 overs, England's spin duo of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali removed South Africa's top order.
After a delay of almost four hours, England was dismissed for 202 after being put into bat by the visitors.
Liam Livingstone top-scored with 38, including hitting three successive sixes off Anrich Nortje.
It was the fifth game in a row that England didn't bat their overs and it felt like their total could lead to a third defeat in a row.
They decided to have a decider on Sunday.
After five defeats in seven games since becoming a partnership, captain Buttler and new head coach Matthew Mott needed a positive result to silence some of the outside noise.
England have not become a bad side overnight, but a lack of form and new tactics has left them looking a shadow of their former self.
Four wickets fell in a 10-ball spell with no runs added to help win the game.
Janneman Malan was caught at mid-on by Rassie van der Dussen, after Topley had had Janneman caught at the bowler's end.
Markram was a yard short of his ground when Buttler swooped in and superbly gathered and under-hand flung the ball towards the stumps.
England's biggest threat was the weather as rain came back, but Buttler used his spinners to rip through them.
England raced through overs to get to the 20 overs they needed to win the game.
England won when South Africa were dismissed for their second-lowest total in one-day internationals.
England have found runs hard to come by under the leadership of Buttler and Mott.
They were well on their way to a big total before Roy and Salt fell in quick succession.
Joe Root skied one 10 balls later to go for one, before Bairstow was thrown out of the game.
England were in grave danger of finishing well short after Buttler and Moeen both departed for six in the same over.
Livingstone hit Nortje for 24 in four balls and picked out the next ball.
The left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was hit down the ground for 14 in three balls by the right-winger, before he picked out long on.
It felt like a total that could have had 30 or 40 extra runs on top with a bit more streetwise cricket was made.
England played out 69 dot balls and it felt like they were guilty of either hitting out or defending.
It was the first time since 1999 that England have been whitewashed in five games in a row, and they may have paid the price for not using the balls they had.
It is great for us to get the win. I'm happy that we came out with the ball and that the early runs put us in a good position.
"It's paramount and I think we saw that today, guys continue to play in the way that we want to as a team." Is it possible to do it better. It's absolutely true.
Positive vibes get us up to a good score. We know that we can improve, but that's not the point.
It was a score that could be chased down. We didn't adapt well enough with the bat and when we lost four in the powerplay it was hard to adjust.
Some of the dismissals can be questioned, but it's back to the drawing board and you have to prepare for the next one.