Hosts South Africa and England have shared the spoils in the One Day International (ODI) series between the two countries. England won the third and final match in Johannesburg by two wickets on Sunday to level the series at 1-1.
The Proteas set a target of 257 for victory, England hit the winning runs in the 44th over.
The Proteas won the first match in Cape Town by 7 wickets, while the second match in Durban was abandoned due to rain.
England won the toss and sent the Proteas in to bat first. Opener, Reeza Hendricks lost his wicket for 11 runs but captain Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma stead the ship. Together, they added 66 runs for the 2nd wicket before Bavuma was trapped leg before wicket by Adil Rashid for 29.
De Kock eventually departed for 69 becoming Rashid’s second victim and with the score on 140 for 4. South Africa again struggled against spin and did themselves no favours with the run-outs of Jon-Jon Smuts and Beuran Hendricks. In the end, David Miller and Lutho Sipamla gave some respectability to the Proteas’ score.
They managed an unbroken, 8th-wicket partnership of 52 runs. Miller finished not out on 69 from 53 deliveries, while Sipamla was unbeaten on 10. South Africa had 256 runs for 7 in their 50 overs.
In reply, England had a whirlwind start. Johnny Bairstow, particularly, threw caution to the wind but Sipamla joined forces with Andile Phehlukwayo and brought an end to his reign, Bairstow out for 43 off just 23 deliveries.
Captain Eion Morgan followed soon thereafter. Brilliantly caught and bowled by Beuran Hendricks for just 9 and England on 86 for 3 in the 12th over. Joe Root and Joe Denly stubbornly resisted. They hit 74 runs for the 4th wicket, before Tabraiz Shamzi struck to get rid of Root for 49.
Ngidi then joined forces with Phehlukwayo and together they got rid of Denly for 66. The wickets of Tom Banton, Tom Curran and Adil Rashid fell in quick succession but the damage was already done.
England hit the winnings runs in the 44th over and won the match by just two wickets to draw the series 1-1. The focus now shifts to the T20 series, which gets underway in East London on Wednesday.
