De Kock stars before rain washes away ODI series decider

The third and final one-day international between England and South Africa was abandoned due to rain at Headingley in Leeds on Sunday, forcing the two sides to share the spoils and draw the series at 1-1. Quinton de Kock sparkled in the two hours of play in the decider, with the opener smashing an incredible 92* in 76 deliveries to take South Africa to 159 for two in 27.4 overs until the heavens opened for the second time in the day to wash out the rest of the game.

The rain brought a disappointing conclusion to a day that promised to give an entertaining conclusion to the battle between the hosts and South Africa, leaving England without a white-ball series victory under their new captain Jos Buttler following their two 2-1 defeats to India earlier this month.

England began the South Africa series in disappointing fashion as they succumbed to a 62-run defeat in Ben Stokes’ farewell game at Chester-le-street. However, the hosts bounced back emphatically in Manchester, dismissing South Africa for just 83 in the second encounter at Old Trafford to level the standings at one game apiece.

South Africa’s batting performance in the third ODI represented a significant improvement on their showing in Manchester two days earlier, as Quinton de Kock treated the Headingley crowd to a batting masterclass after the Proteas won the toss. The opener entered the final encounter with scores of 19 and 5 in the first two ODIs, but the left-hander put those failures behind him on Sunday as he laced 13 fours in his spectacular unbeaten innings of 92.

De Kock repeatedly peppered the off-side boundary after the early loss of Janeman Malan, taking the Proteas to 60 for one at the end of the powerplay. The southpaw brought up his 29th ODI half-century with a dismissive cover drive against Adil Rashid and continued in the same vein after the loss of Rassie van der Dussen, who slog-swept to the man in the deep to end a 75-run partnership between the pair. De Kock added 60 risk-free more runs with Aiden Markram for the third wicket before his bid for a 19th ODI ton was cruelly cut short by the weather, forcing the players to go off for the second time in the day and eventually causing the match to be abandoned 90 minutes later.

Following the underwhelming conclusion of the ODIs, England and South Africa turn their attention to the three-match T20I series starting on Wednesday in Bristol, where both sides will look to fine-tune their preparations ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.