3rd ODI England vs South Africa, England hold nerves to break their 5 match losing streak to win the last game
When England landed in South Africa, the cricket pundits were thinking that it will be a great tour for the strong English team and that South Africa might not do well in this crucial home series. However, to win a place in the WC Super League qualification, South Africa played out of their skin to win the 1st and 2nd ODI matches in a comprehensive manner and placed them in the top 10 teams of the Super League to get direct qualification to the 2023 ODI WC. However, they needed to complete a whitewash to book their place in the upcoming ODI World cup, but they were unable to do so. England’s team has some other ideas when they were put into bat by South Africa after winning the toss.
England batters knew that they had to play some of their best cricket to put up a fighting total against an in-form South African batting lineup. However, they lost quick three wickets till the 6th over, making things difficult for themselves. David Malan and Jos Buttler came to the rescue at this moment for the England lineup and produced a wonderful partnership of 232 runs. David Malan caught out in the 41st over after scoring a brilliant ton of 118 (114) with 7 fours and 6 sixes. Jos Buttler also showed why he is one of the best in modern-day cricket and played a crucial knock of 131 (127) with 6 fours and 7 sixes. Moeen Ali made a quick 41 (23) and England was able to score 346/7 in their 50 allotted overs.
Having played well in two previous games, South Africa was all set to chase this target in 3rd ODI England vs South Africa. They produced 49 runs opening partnership, but the star of the previous match, Bavuma got out early. Reeza Hendricks scored 52 (61), and Markram scored 39 (35). South Africa needed their star batsman Rassie van der Dussen to stand up to chase this target, but he was sent back to the pavilion by Archer at 5 (8). Heinrich Klaasen kept South Africa hopes alive with a fighting knock of 80 (62). However, the finisher Miller was picked by Archer at 13 (7), which put South Africa out of the game. In the end, they could only manage 287 all-out in the 44th over. They had 41 balls to score the remaining 60 runs, but there were no batsmen to do the job for the South African side. Now, South Africa is placed at number 9 in the world cup super league standings, and only the top 8 teams will get a direct qualification. They will have to beat the Netherlands team with 2-0 result in upcoming ODI series to qualify for the 2023 world cup played in India.