MANCHESTER: England bowlers wreaked havoc over the South African batting line-up after the batters put on a decent 201 in the allotted 29 overs in a rain-affected second ODI of the three-match series.
After a frustrating home series defeat against India and the first-match loss against South Africa, Jos Buttler XI found a moment to cherish as the hosts completed a resounding victory over the Proteas in the second ODI to level the three-match series 1-1.
In the second ODI, reduced to 29 overs per side after a two-hour and 45 minute delay because of the persistent rain, the touring side captain Keshav Maharaj won the toss and invited the hosts to bat first.
Batting first, England batters displayed a combined effort as they posted 201 runs on the board in 29 overs.
Right-handed explosive batter Liam Livingstone and all-rounder Sam Curran remained the significant contributors as they scored 38 and 35 respectively. Livingstone top-scored for the side and faced 26 deliveries in his important knock, laced with a boundary and three sixes.
Curran, on the other hand, followed back with a blistering knock down the order as he scored a quickfire 35 off a mere 18 balls including two boundaries 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 one scalp.
In the run chase, England bowlers dominated the touring batting line-up completely as they bundled out the latter for a mere 83 runs to aid in their side’s resounding 118-run victory.
Henrich Klaasen fought hard with a gritty knock of 33 runs while the rest of the batters remained clueless against the English bowling attack as eight of them could not even get into the double-figures.
For England, Adil Rashid was the pick of the bowlers as he claimed three wickets for 29 runs, while Moeen Ali and Reece Topley claimed two wickets each. David Willey and Curran, on the other hand, struck out a batter each.
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