Headingley| Washing out all hopes of getting a cracking game and a series champions, the English weather has struck yet again the final ODI in this series is declared abandoned. South Africa had won the toss and had opted to bat first in the final ODI. The visitors had outplayed England completely in the first ODI and England returned the favor as they steamrolled the Proteas in the second ODI. With the series evenly balanced, this was England's second series decider in a week. When the match had started, the weather was still threatening the possibility of having a game.
England has had a lot of issues with their batting lately as the absence of former skippers Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes has impacted the English middle-order. Irrespective of things going haywire, Reece Topley has come out as a revelation for the new-looking English outfit. The left-armed pacer has clinched 11 wickets in his last 3 ODIs and hasn't faced any difficulties while bowling to batting greats such as Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and others. With his natural left-arm angle, sideways movement and decent pace packed up with some bounce, Topley looks the perfect white ball bowler as of now.
As far as Bairstow, Root, and Rashid are concerned, the Headingley ground is like home to them and they know the conditions better than anybody else. After the debacle in the second ODI, the South African openers Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock had started on a very cautious note. David Willey dismissed Malan when was on 11 off 18 deliveries but Quinton de Kock looked quite determined to put up a show. He stitched an innings-building partnership of 77 with Rassie van der Dussen before the latter was trapped by leg-spinner Adil Rashid. Aiden Markram walked out and helped de Kock with his exploits before the mighty English rain struck. To Quinton de Kock's misfortune, he remained on 92* off 76 deliveries as the match has been called off.
The series now stays leveled at 1-1.
Teams:
England XI: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Philip Salt, Joe Root, Jos Buttler(w/c), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley
South Africa XI: Janneman Malan, Quinton de Kock(w), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj(c), Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi
