England drove home the advantage from being 179/2 in 25 overs as they have almost batted South Africa out of the game. England who were wounded after the first two matches have come out all guns blazing and are looking good to get a consolation win over South Africa. Jacob Bethell and Joe Root were there in the crease and drove home the advantage from a great position.
The duo batted without any sweat as Jacob Bethell made a history of his own as he completed a superb ton his maiden ton and that has indeed highlighted the innings of England so far. South Africa have been sloppy in the field with dropped catches and all and they are paying the price for it big time.
Jacob Bethell & Joe Root power England past 200 after Bethell gets a lifeline with players taking Drinks after 32 overs
Cody Yusuf bowled a tight 26th over to the two batters. Joe Root then glanced Bosch through the fine leg region for a boundary. Then another moment came with Bethell on 44 and England at 193/2 in the 28th over. Jacob Bethell was dropped by Nandre Burger off Wiaan Mulder at mid-on as another sitter was put down here. Bethell would surely make England pay now. Dewald Brevis was introduced into the attack and surprisingly bowled a tight over. Mulder too bowled decently.
England brought up their 200 in 30 overs and at this stage, even 400 looked on the cards. Jacob Bethell soon reached his fifty off 48 balls with a single from Brevis. He then hit Brevis down the ground over the bowler’s head for the maximum. Joe Root reached his 44th ODI fifty with a single off Wiaan Mulder as he has been the glue in this innings. Root also hit a boundary off Mulder slashing hard over short third man for a boundary as England reached 218/2 in 32 overs when players took the Drinks Break.
Jacob Bethell’s maiden ODI hundred alongside Joe Root takes England to 299/2 in 40 overs
Dewald Brevis started proceedings after the Drinks Break and bowled another tight over. Cody Yusuf bowled from the other end as Bethell hit him through mid-off for a boundary and followed that up with another boundary by pulling in front of square. Joe Root got into the act as he hit Brevis for a boundary through mid-on. Bethell then climbed onto him and launched him over long-on for the maximum.
The 250 came up for England in 35.5 overs while Bethell was on a roll as he hit it past mid-off for a boundary off Yusuf. Corbin Bosch returned to the attack as South Africa wasted a review against Bethell as the ball pitched outside the leg stump. Bethell then climbed onto Burger by driving through deep cover for a boundary. The 150-run stand came up between the two players. Bethell survived a run out chance as a direct hit at the striker’s end would have been the end of him but he survived.
Root pulled Bosch over midwicket for a boundary. Bethell too hit the same bowler past fine leg for a boundary. The big moment soon came for Jacob Bethell as he reached his maiden ODI ton with a boundary off Burger towards mid-off as he got there in 76 balls. Bethell was not done yet as he hit Burger for back-to-back boundaries after getting to his hundred both through mid-off region. After 40 overs, England reached 299/2 with 400 definitely on the cards.
Joe Root’s Masterful Ton & Jos Buttler’s finishing powers England to 414/5 in 50 overs
Keshav Maharaj came back into the attack and removed Jacob Bethell for 110 off 82 balls with 13 fours and 3 sixes to his name. He bowled a length delivery sliding across off-stump, Bethell looked to come down the track and lace it through the covers but he missed. Ryan Rickelton collected the ball and whipped off the bails. South Africa finally had a wicket as captain Harry Brook came and got off the mark with a couple of runs. England got past 300 in 40.3 overs.
Harry Brook got himself runout trying to come back for the second run as Jos Buttler came to the crease with Brook scoring 3 off 2 balls. Mulder returned as Root reverse scooped him over short third man for a boundary. Buttler got into the act as he hit back-to-back boundaries off Mulder. Maharaj bowled a tidy over again. Buttler then Yusuf for a boundary towards the fine leg region. Buttler then climbed onto Maharaj with a boundary and maximum to end the 45th over as 350 was now crossed in a jiffy.
Soon, Joe Root brought up his 19th ODI hundred and his 10th in England with a single off Yusuf. Root soon fell to Bosch for exactly a hundred off 96 balls with 6 fours to his name. It was a low full toss from Bosch on the leg stump, Root backed away and carved it to backward point where Maphaka dived to his right and pulled off a great catch. Will Jacks came in next and got off the mark.
Burger returned and was dispatched by Will Jacks for a boundary and then a maximum. Buttler then hit Bosch for a boundary to mid-off and brought up his half-century off 27 balls, his 29th ODI fifty. Jacks then hit Burger for a boundary to bring up the 400 for England in 49.1 overs. The 7th time England have gone past 400 in ODIs. Buttler hit Burger for three more boundaries off the last 4 balls as England finished with 414/5 in 50 overs. Buttler was unbeaten on 62 off 32 balls while Will Jacks was unbeaten on 19 off 8 balls. 27 extras given by the fielding side.
A hard day for the South African bowlers. Corbin Bosch finished with 2/79 in 10 overs. Keshav Maharaj got 2/61 in 8 overs and there was one run out in the innings. The rest went wicketless and went the distance as well with South Africa getting a target of 415 to win the match and whitewash England 3-0.
What Lies Ahead
Well, England have put a mammoth score on the board of 414/5 and are favourites at the interval. South Africa needs to bat out of their skins to win this match and complete the 3-0 whitewash. We reckon England have got enough and should win the ODI in Southampton and finish the series 1-2. Anything can happen though in a game of cricket. Let’s see how things pan out in the second innings.
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