England beats South Africa by record 342-run margin in 3rd cricket ODI
SOUTHAMPTON, England (AP) — England won by the biggest margin of victory in one-day international cricket on Sunday, beating South Africa by 342 runs.
Pacer Jofra Archer took four wickets and England restored some pride to deny South Africa a series sweep in the third and final ODI.
Batting first after losing the toss, England scored 414-5 in 50 overs at Southampton’s Rose Bowl with centuries from Joe Root (100) and 21-year-old Jacob Bethell (110). Jos Buttler smashed a 32-ball 62 not out. Opener Jamie Smith also hit 62 in 48 deliveries.
In reply, South Africa was dismissed for 72 in 20.5 overs after being reduced to 7-4 and 24-6 at one point as the edges kept coming from South Africa and the catches kept sticking for England.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma was injured while fielding and did not bat.
Bethell hit the first century of his professional career, taking just 76 balls to do so and becoming his country’s second-youngest one-day centurion after David Gower in 1978. Bethell, who reached the landmark with a drive through extra-cover, was finally stumped on the charge against Keshav Maharaj (2-61), ending his partnership of 182 with Root.
“It was a great feeling, an addictive feeling and hopefully more to come,” Bethell said.
Archer on target
Archer turned in a sensational new-ball spell and took four wickets for only five runs in his first five overs. He finished with figures of 4-18 in nine overs.
Archer, serving up a relentlessly threatening burst that saw him hit 93 mph (150 kph), looked like he could have wiped out the entire team but had to settle for Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Matthew Breetzke and Tristan Stubbs. Brydon Carse added two and Adil Rashid took the last three wickets for 13 to complete the rout.
India held the previous winning margin record of 317 runs against Sri Lanka in 2023. Dozens of teams have won by the maximum number of wickets (10) but this is the highest winning margin by runs.
South Africa won the series 2-1. It had already clinched the series with a game to spare Thursday after a five-run win in the second match.
‘Slightly embarrassing’
South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad was disappointed but took some solace from the two wins that came before.
“Any excuse is better than none and we were definitely off it today,” he said. “Against a top side like England, when you’re not on top of game, you do get exposed.
“If we are going to be poor at something we’d rather be poor at games that aren’t clutch games but I’m not making light of today’s game — that was slightly embarrassing.”
England was skittled for 131 on the way to losing the first match by seven wickets at Headingley.
A three-match T20 series between the two teams starts in Cardiff on Wednesday.
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