It was meant to be another festival of big hitting but instead South Africa edged a low-scoring thriller with their last pair at the crease here last night, as Chris Morris succeeded where more illustrious names had failed.
Nothing seemed more certain than a victory for South Africa, unbeaten in their pink clothing worn for cancer awareness, and a decider in Cape Town tomorrow when England were six down for barely a hundred.
Yet England appeared to have dragged victory out of the fire and sealed a Test and one-day series double when they reduced South Africa to 210 for eight in reply to their 262.
It was then that Morris, brought into the South Africa side for Morne Morkel, sent the crowd wild with an array of big shots that saw him hit 62 off 38 balls before being bowled by Adil Rashid with the scores level.
Imran Tahir, a hapless figure in the first three internationals, then followed up his superb performance in the field by hitting his first ball for four to seal the most dramatic of one-wicket wins for a delirious home side.
It would have been very different had England’s poor display in the field not been summed up by Rashid dropping a steepler from Morris on 14 with 52 still needed by South Africa.
But England were made to pay for that howler and two chances to Jason Roy that went begging. They head for the final match of this five-match series having squandered a 2-0 lead and all the momentum with South Africa.
Joe Root had earlier led the fightback with a sublime century and two bowlers who have been left out of England’s World Twenty20 squad in Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad played a big part in getting England so close.
This is the ground where South Africa have won 21 of 29 completed one-day internationals and, famously, smashed 438 to beat Australia 10 years ago, well before scores of 400 almost became the norm here. England were never in danger of getting near those dizzy heights once Tahir had taken three wickets in seven balls as five English wickets fell for just 19.
Alex Hales had moved to his fourth half-century in four matches in this series after the early loss of Roy, but he holed out off Tahir as soon as he had reached his landmark and was rapidly followed by Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes.
Jos Buttler failed again to reproduce his early-series heroics and when Moeen Ali was out aiming a waft outside off stump, England were in big trouble at 108 for six and in danger of one of their full-blown capitulations.
Root at least averted that with a century of the highest class to follow one of his best Test tons on this ground three weeks ago and another hundred in a losing cause at Centurion in the previous 50-over match.
Root had good support from Woakes, back in the England side along with Broad, and Rashid, who contributed a perky 39 before becoming one of Kagiso Rabada’s four victims.
England needed a good start with the ball and it came when Broad — in his first ODI since the disastrous World Cup and on the ground where he bowled England to Test series success — castled Hashim Amla.
But it was after Stokes had claimed the key wicket of Quinton de Kock that England burst into life through Woakes, who had a nightmare in the last Test in Centurion and was left out of the World Twenty20 squad after being ignored for the first three matches of this series.
First Woakes got Faf du Plessis with a beauty and then ran out AB De Villiers brilliantly off his own bowling after the South African captain had been called for a sharp single by JP Duminy.
Duminy, who has been involved in 21 run-outs for South Africa, with his partner dismissed in 15 of them, had been dropped by Hales at slip and was lucky to survive a reviewed lbw decision, so when he was palpably trapped by leg-spinner Rashid his miserable night was complete.
England continued to excel when Reece Topley took a brilliant one-handed return catch to send back Farhaan Behardien and then Stokes coaxed a slap to cover from David Wiese.
But ultimately it was a bad miss by Rashid that cost England and left South Africa sitting pretty in pink. – Daily Mail