Kagiso Rabada and co help Proteas gallop to win
The brilliant young fast bowler's fiery spell lays the platform for a confidence boosting win over England before the Champs Trophy.
Kagiso Rabda dismantled the English top order. Photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP.
Proteas skipper AB de Villiers asked his bowlers to “do a bit of damage” after choosing to bowl in the third ODI against England on Monday and they duly did so.
In five overs of absolute madness at Lord’s, South Africa’s opening bowling pair of Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell tore the hosts to shreds and laid the foundation for a consolation victory.
England still win the series 2-1.
The impressive Rabada, who ended with 4/39, continued his stranglehold over England opener Jason Roy to set the ball rolling but it was Parnell who dealt the critical blows.
Gaining impressive swing, the left-hander curled a delivery into Joe Root’s pads to have him plumb in front before drawing captain Eoin Morgan into playing away from his body.
By the time Rabada had Alex Hales, Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid fishing outside off, the home side had collapsed to 20/6.
It was the quickest six scalps have been taken in the history of ODI cricket.
The bowling pair’s heroics were clearly important as the assistance for the bowlers gradually disappeared.
That allowed Jonny Bairstow to compile an excellent 51 off 67 balls.
He was well supported by David Willey (26) and debutant quick Toby Roland-Jones (37*).
Parnell returned though to claim Willey and figures of 3/43 before spinner Keshav Maharaj mopped up with 3/25.
The Proteas were batting before the lunch interval and duly coasted to their target of 154.
Hashim Amla was at his fluent best with a boundary-filled 55 off just 54 balls.
In the process, he became the quickest man in ODI history to reach 7 000 runs.
There was a wobble when South Africa lost three wickets for just six runs before JP Duminy (28*), allowed some time at the crease, and De Villiers (27*) applied the finishing touches.
The Proteas’ ICC Champions Trophy campaign starts against Sri Lanka on Saturday.
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