Fifth ODI
England: 236 (Hales 112; Rabada 3/34, Wiese 3/50, Tahir 3/54)
South Africa: 237/5 (De Villiers 101*, Amla 59, Wiese 41*; Topley 3/41)
South Africa win by five wickets and take the series 3-2
The Proteas are the pride of the nation again. Their startling resurgence was confirmed in the grandest manner in the climax to a thrilling one-day series yesterday at Newlands.
Captain AB de Villiers confessed at the after-match press conference that his team were “in a dark place” after falling behind 2-0 in Port Elizabeth a week ago. Coming directly after having lost a Test series to England too, De Villiers and his team were staring bleak times in the face as no Proteas team had lost consecutive home Test and ODI series to the same touring team in 14 years.
That run can now safely be stretched even further with De Villiers yesterday leading his side as they made an entirely different entry into the record books. On the back of a masterful century from the skipper, the Proteas became only the fourth team in history to win a five-match ODI series after being 2-0 down.
“Test of character” is an over-used term in the world of sporting clichés. But with the Proteas’ run-chase wobbling at 22/3 in pursuit of 237 and the series on the line – this truly was a seminal moment for a group of players, coaches and management that have been to hell and back over the course of this past summer.
At these crucial junctures, teams need their most experienced and classy players to stand up. It is here when the men are separated from the boys and individuals prove why they are deserving of their status in the game. De Villiers and Amla are two of those men for the Proteas.
The pair proceeded to deliver the perfect counter-punch. Utilising all their years of playing together for the Proteas, De Villiers and Amla assessed the conditions and realised quickly that absorbing the pressure was just as precious as a boundary struck.
Everyone in the ground, by now resembling a pressure cooker just waiting to explode, was aware that the game – and series – was going to be won or lost right there. There are few more composed cricketers around than Amla, but even he eventually succumbed when the former Test captain charged at Moeen Ali before swiping blindly at a turning delivery, and being stumped. It was an ugly dismissal for a batsman of Amla’s class, but the larger part of the job had been done, with the pair adding 125 invaluable runs for the fourth wicket.
“It was a close series. They had us under pressure for all five games. The difference was the hunger. I think we were just hungrier than them. In our eyes it is something really special. To keep believing. To keep that hunger. We didn’t lose the belief,” De Villiers explained.
“You live for those pressure moments. I think that through a guy’s international career you have ups and downs, but you always feel that in moments like that you’re going to be tested and it’s taken me years to feel comfortable in pressure situations like that. I am starting to feel like I am having good composure in those kinds of situations. I felt the game was on the line and Hash I needed to make a play.”
The job still needed completing though. And when Farhaan Behardien fell shortly after Amla, England hoped it would trigger a similar collapse that had seen them lose eight wickets for just 81 runs earlier in the day.
However, South Africa’s “Captain Courageous” was still at the crease compiling runs with the greatest of ease. A century beckoned, but now was not the time to focus on personal milestones as De Villiers needed to guide the inexperienced David Wiese through a few tense moments.
“David would have felt a lot of nerves at the end there and the way he handled it was exceptional and pleasing for me. I’m very proud of that,” De Villiers said.
Wiese certainly enjoyed batting with his skipper as he expressed himself towards the end with a couple of towering sixes that allowed a previously tense crowd to launch into thunderous applause.
That noise paled in comparison to when De Villiers went to his 24th ODI century soon afterwards with a trademark dab down to third man that had Newlands delirious.
A couple of balls later they were at it again. Only this time they were celebrating a little bit of history made by a team that simply refused to give up. - Cape Times