London: South Africa beat England by seven wickets to gain a consolation win the third One Day International at Lord’s on Monday.
But England took the three-match series 2-1 despite being well-beaten in a match where only 60 overs out of a scheduled 100 were bowled.
England collapsed to 20 for six in five overs after being sent into bat in overcast conditions after South Africa captain AB de Villiers won the toss, with new-ball duo Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell, who eventually shared seven wickets between them, doing the damage.
Jonny Bairstow top-scored with 51 in an innings where the only other batsmen to make it to double figures were tailender Toby Roland-Jones, who made 37 not out on his ODI debut, and David Willey (26).
South Africa openers Hashim Amla (55) and Quinton de Kock (34) put on 95 for the first wicket before JP Duminy (28 not out) and de Villiers (27 not out) completed the rout.
This series served as a warm-up for the Champions Trophy, a tournament featuring the world’s top eight ODI sides.
An overcast morning and a green-tinged pitch meant it was no surprise when South Africa captain AB de Villiers opted to field first upon winning the toss.
“The stats show there’s something in it for the first 15 overs, and that’s when we want to do some damage,” said de Villiers after the coin fell his way for the third time this series.
As it turned out, the Proteas only needed a mere five overs to have England six down.
The fifth ball of the match saw Rabada strike when Jason Roy edged a good length ball to Hashim Amla at first slip.
Next over, Joe Root (two) was lbw to a swinging delivery from left-armer Parnbell.
England then lost their next two wickets on 15.
Eoin Morgan, the England captain, fell for eight on his Middlesex home ground, was caught behind off Parnell for eight.
That was the end of the fourth over and next ball Alex Hales, trying to drive Rabada, got an outside edge to Amla and England were 15 for four.
It was the start of a brilliant over that yielded three wickets in five balls for Rabada.
His fifth ball that over saw Jos Buttler, going for a big drive, well caught by Faf du Plessis at second slip.
Next ball, England’s 20 for five became 20 for six when Adil Rashid, even more recklessly, attempted a huge drive and edged to du Plessis for a golden duck.
Bairstow, England’s Test wicket-keeper who many believe should be in England’s first-choice ODI side purely as a batsman, stopped the rot.
He showed his class by cover-driving Rabada and cutting fast bowler Morne Morkel for fours.
