Ben Stokes struck a superb century before pacemen Josh Ball and Mark Wood helped England seal a dramatic and series-clinching two run-win over South Africa in the second one-day international at Southampton on Saturday. Victory put England 2-0 up with one to play ahead of Monday's finale at Lord's. Stokes made South Africa pay dearly for dropping him off both first and second balls after the all-rounder had been passed fit to play following a knee injury.
Yet in a match where the Proteas dropped six chances in all, they were still on course for a morale-boosting win ahead of the start of next week's Champions Trophy ODI tournament in England. South Africa, the world's top-ranked ODI side, needed 20 off the last two overs chasing a target of 331. That became 10 off 10 balls when David Miller (71 not out) struck Jake Ball for a six and a four off successive deliveries.
But South Africa - often accused of 'choking' in pressure situations - saw Miller and Chris Morris (36 not out) fail to score the runs they required as Ball and fast bowler Wood held their nerve. Wood defended a target of seven off six balls in the last over. Two singles were followed by a dot ball, a single and another dot ball. Suddenly, South Africa needed four off the last ball and Morris could not oblige.
Earlier, Stokes made 101 and Jos Buttler a dashing 65 not out in England's 330 for six after South Africa captain AB de Villiers sent them into bat in overcast, bowler-friendly, conditions. Stokes, who briefly left the field with a knee injury in England's 72-run win in the series opener at Headingley on Wednesday, showed no discomfort with the bat, although he only bowled three overs. His 79-ball innings, just his second century in 55 matches at this level, featured 11 fours and three sixes. Stokes, the Indian Premier League's record two-million-dollar-man, shared stands of 95 with skipper Eoin Morgan, himself dropped twice, and 77 with Buttler.
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Scoreboard
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England
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J. Roy b Rabada 8
A. Hales c de Kock b Pretorius 24
J. Root run out (Pretorius) 39
E. Morgan c de Kock b Rabada 45
B. Stokes c Miller b Maharaj 101
J. Buttler not out 65
M. Ali c de Kock b Phehlukwayo 33
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Extras: (b1, lb6, w8) 15
Total: (6 wkts, 50 overs) 330
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Did not bat: A Rashid, L Plunkett, J Ball, M Wood
Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Roy), 2-70 (Hales), 3-80 (Root), 4-175 (Morgan), 5-252 (Stokes), 6-330 (Ali)
Bowling: Rabada 10-0-50-2 (4w); Morris 10-0-66-0 (2w); Pretorius 10-0-61-1; Maharaj 10-0-72-1; Phehlukwayo 10-1-74-1 (2w)
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South Africa
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Q. de Kock c Buttler b Ali 98
H. Amla c Morgan b Stokes 24
F. du Plessis c Buttler b Plunkett 16
AB de Villiers c Buttler b Plunkett 52
D. Miller not out 71
F. Behardien c Ali b Plunkett 17
C. Morris not out 36
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Extras: (lb5, w9) 14
Total: (5 wkts, 50 overs) 328
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Did not bat: D Pretorius, K Rabada, A Phehlukwayo, K Maharaj
Fall of wickets: 1-56 (Amla), 2-93 (Du Plessis), 3-189 (De Villiers), 4-211 (De Kock), 5-266 (Behardien)
Bowling: Wood 10-0-48-0 (1w); Ball 10-0-81-0 (2w); Stokes 3-0-12-1 (2w); Plunkett 10-0-64-3 (3w); Rashid 6-0-41-0 (1w); Ali 8-0-59-1; Root 3-0-18-0;
Result: England won by two runs
Man-of-the-match: Ben Stokes (ENG)
Series: England lead three-match series 2-0
Toss: South Africa
Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL), Rob Bailey (ENG)
TV umpire: Rod Tucker (AUS)
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)
Previous Result
May 24: 1st ODI, Headingley (d/n): England won by 72 runs
Note: d/n = day/night.
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