South Africa has continued their dominance in the ODIs and registered a thrilling five-run victory against England in the second ODI on Thursday. The Proteas led by Temba Bavuma has now taken a lead of 2-0 and sealed the series with one game to spare. Despite efforts from Joe Root, Jacob Bethell and Jos Buttler – who hit half-centuries, England could not chase the 331-run target.
This is second successive ODI series victory for South Africa, having earlier beaten Australia in their backyard. Most importantly, this is their first ODI series win in England since 1998, highlighting a major boost for Bavuma’s team. England, however, continues to struggle in the 50-over game against South Africa, with their recent bilateral ODI series victory over the Proteas in 2017 being the last one. The five-run loss is also South Africa’s second-closest victory over England in ODIs, only behind their legendary one-run victory in Cape Town back in 2000.
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England’s ODIs continue to struggle, with only one series victory out of six attempts since the 2023 World Cup. Their win rate in the period since the World Cup has fallen to 31.8%, superior only to Bangladesh and Zimbabwe among full-member countries.
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One of the highlights of the match was the innings played by Matthew Breetzke, he wrote himself into the record books becoming the first batter in ODI cricket to register five fifties in his first five games. His stylish 85 off 77 balls led South Africa to a total of 330/8. With the ball, Nandre Burger produced a winning spell by picking up three important wickets to see his team get past England in a heart-stopping finish.
