MANCHESTER: England bowlers wreaked havoc on South Africa’s batting line-up after batsmen managed a decent 201 in the allotted 29 overs in a rain-affected second ODI of the three-match series.
After a frustrating home series loss against India and first match defeat against South Africa, Jos Buttler XI found a moment to cherish as the hosts completed a resounding victory over Proteas in the second ODI to level the three-match series. 1-1. .
In the second ODI, reduced to 29 overs a side after a delay of two hours and 45 minutes due to persistent rain, touring team captain Keshav Maharaj won the toss and invited the hosts to bat first.
Batting first, England batsmen showed a combined effort by recording 201 board runs from 29 overs.
Explosive right-handed batsman Liam Livingstone and multi-talented Sam Curran continued to be the main contributors, scoring 38 and 35 respectively.
Livingstone was the side’s top scorer and faced 26 deliveries in his important blow, tied with a demarcation and three sixes.
Curran, on the other hand, followed up with a breakneck takedown that brought down the order as he hit a speedy 35 off just 18 balls, including two bounds and three sixes.
For South Africa, Dwaine Pretorius led the way with four wickets, while Anrich Nortje and Tabraiz Shamsi bagged two each. Skipper Maharaj, on the other hand, made a scalp.
In the run-up chase, the England bowlers completely dominated the tour batting line-up as they outscored the latter by just 83 runs to assist in their team’s resounding 118-run victory.
Henrich Klaasen fought hard with a hard hitting 33 runs, while the rest of the batsmen remained clueless against the English bowling attack as eight of them failed to even reach double figures.
For England, Adil Rashid was the bowlers’ choice as he claimed three wickets for 29 runs, while Moeen Ali and Reece Topley each claimed two wickets.
David Willey and Curran, on the other hand, struck out one batter each.
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