AB de Villiers’ 24th ODI ton has helped South Africa to win the fifth ODI against England by 5 wickets and clinch the 5-match series 3-2 in what was only the 3rd time a team has come from 2-0 down to win a series. Chasing 237 to win, the Proteas sneak home with six overs to spare.
After putting England into bat, the hosts dismissed Jason Roy in no time. In-form Joe Root joined hands with Alex Hales and the duo put on 61 for the third wicket before Root was dismissed by Imran Tahir. Skipper Eoin Morgan’s disastrous tour continued as he was caught behind off David Wiese for 2.
In the meantime, Hales reached his fifth fifty of the series and steadied the ship along with Ben Sokes as they put on 70 for the fourth wicket before Kagiso Rabada struck twice in two balls and put England in trouble at 156-5. Hales kept on losing partners on the other end and reached his second ton of the series before he was dismissed for 112.
England were dismissed for 236 with Hales being the top scorer. Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir and David Wiese took three wickets apiece for the hosts.
Chasing 237 to win, South Africa lost in-form Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and Rilee Rossouw with just 22 on the board. It was when skipper AB de Villiers walked out to bat and joined Amla in the crease. They played sensibly and made sure that there was no further hiccups in the chase.
After putting on 125 for the fourth wicket, Amla was dismissed by Moeen Ali for 59 and Behardien followed him soon after. David Wiese walked out to bat and backed his skipper as they kept the scoreboard ticking. De Villiers reached his ton and the Proteas were in a pole position for the victory.
Wiese was in a hurry as he finished things quickly and took his team home with an unbeaten 41 off 32 balls. De Villiers was unbeaten on 101 while Topley ended up picking 3-41 in his seven overs.
De Villiers was given the Man of the Match and Hales was named the Man of the Series.
Brief scores: England 236 (Hales 112, Rabada 3-34, Wiese 3-50, Tahir 3-53) lost to South Africa 237 for 5 (de Villiers 101*, Amla 59, Topley 3-41) by five wickets.
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