South Africa beat England by seven wickets to gain a consolation win the third One-day International at Lord’s on Monday. England, though, 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*) and De Villiers (27*) completed the rout.
This series served as a warm-up for the Champions Trophy, a tournament featuring the world’s top eight ODI sides.
Hosts England launch the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh at The Oval on Thursday, with South Africa playing Sri Lanka at Surrey’s headquarters on Saturday.
Brief score:
- England 153 in 31.1 overs (Jonny Bairstow 51; Kagiso Rabada 4/39, Keshav Maharaj 3/25, Wayne Parnell 3/43) lost to South Africa 156/3 in 28.5 overs (Hashim Amla 55; Jake Ball 2/43) by 7 wickets.