Hosts South Africa will be playing a dead-rubber encounter against World Champions England in the third ODI at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley.
After opting to bowl first in the second encounter, the South African bowling line-up was hammered like anything by the English batsmen. There were contributions from almost every batsman of England but splendid innings from Jos Buttler and Harry Brook took the total to 342 runs in 50 overs.
Undoubtedly, it was a winning total on that surface but the hosts had other plans. Skipper Temba Bavuma became the showstopper in the game as he scored 109 runs off just 102 deliveries to take his team home.
Some hard-hitting down the order from David Miller helped the Proteas win the series in Bloemfontein. On the other hand, every bowler got a single wicket apart from Anrich Nortje who bagged a couple of wickets.
Now, both sides are set for the final ODI which is set to be played at Diamond Oval, Kimberley. On one end where South Africa would look to whitewash Jos Buttler & Co. who will play for their pride in the final encounter.
What have they done so far?
The hosts South Africa started off really well in the series with the bat with Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma scoring 149 and 145 runs in the series respectively. In the first ODI, the Proteas scored 298 runs after batting first, thanks to van der Dussen’s classic innings of 111. In reply, England could only score 271 and lost the game by 27 runs.
Anrich Nortje has picked up 6 wickets so far in the series
Though Jason Roy scored a ton for England, the visitors couldn’t achieve the target due to the regular falling of wickets. Anrich Nortje picked up four wickets for just 62 in his 10 overs.
The second ODI was also a high-scoring match with England posting 342 runs because of a spectacular effort from Buttler and Brook. It looked like England would easily level the series but South Africa chased down the target in the last over to win the series.
African captain Temba Bavuma scored a century to make sure his team would not depend on the final match for the series victory. Credit should also go to David Miller for finishing things off in style with top-notch innings of 58 runs off just 37 balls. Talking about England’s bowling, Olly Stone was the most economical with 2 wickets for 48 whereas the others were expensive.
Head to Head Record
Both England and South Africa faced off each other 68 times in ODIs whereas the Men in Green are a bit better side with 33 victories to their name. England, on the other hand, has won 29 times with five matches failing to yield any result.
Talking about the matches in South Africa, the hosts have won 20 times against England. Overall, the Proteas have a great rapport while playing at home against England.
Key Players
Anrich Nortje: Probably one of the fastest bowlers we have right now, Anrich Nortje has been tremendous in the series so far. He has picked up the most number of wickets in the series with 6 so far and one would expect him to make his day busy with more wickets.
Nortje bowled 19 overs in the series so far with an average of 21 which is good. He is the only bowler so far to pick up a four-fer in the series that he got in the first ODI. With an economy of 6.63, Nortje bowled some tight lines against one of the best attackers in the world. Even in the last ODI, he will be the one to watch out for.
Jos Buttler scored an unbeaten 94 in the second ODI which went in vain
Jos Buttler: Jos Buttler has been impressive in both battles so far but his innings went in vain on both occasions. He came down the order in the first ODI and scored 36 off 42 balls but the real Buttler show came in the second ODI when he scored 94 off just 82 deliveries with the help of eight boundaries and three maximums.
If England has to win the final match in Kimberley, then Jos Buttler has to be in his beast mode. Not only this, but he should also play a longer inning to give his side some extra support.
Predicted XIs
South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma ©, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje
England: Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler ©, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Olly Stone, Reece Topley
Prediction
The way South Africa has played in the series so far, everyone would opt for them to win the match and whitewash the cricket inventors at home. But, England did not play bad cricket at all. They have scored in both games, and bowled decent on many occasions, too. It was just their tough luck that they couldn’t win either of the matches.
England can win the battle if their skipper Jos Buttler fires from one end and play 20-25 overs. It would be easier for the visitors to do the rest. On the other hand, one big advantage of South Africa is that they are playing at home and know the conditions better than anyone.
With a good pace attack, they would use the pitch to its best by hitting the deck hard. Keeping in mind the home advantage, South Africa has a great chance of winning the match and sending England back to home winless.