England vs South Africa 2017: 2nd ODI, 5 talking points

Mark Wood bowled a sensational final over to defend 7 runs and win the series and the game for England by 2 runs at the Ageas Bowl in the second ODI against South Africa. Sent in to bat first, Ben Stokes' hundred took England to yet another 300+ total, 330 this time.

South Africa were strong in the chase, matching England stroke for stroke with Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers looking in ominous touch. Liam Plunkett's cutters accounted for de Villiers and Moeen Ali got rid of de Kock for 98 to leave David Miller and Chris Morris to do what they do best, finishing.

Miller returned to form with some sublime strokes while Morris was quick to slam anything in his arc. However, Mark Wood, who was England's best bowler alongside Plunkett yesterday, kept pounding the duo to get away bouncers on a two-paced wicket. Despite needing just 7 of the final over, Miller and Morris couldn't finish the game as Wood conceded just 4 runs.

Brief Scores: England 330/6 (Stokes 101, Buttler 65, Rabada 2/50) beat South Africa 328/5 (de Kock 98, Miller 71*, Plunkett 3/64)

Here are the talking points from the second ODI in Ageas Bowl.

#5 Ben Stokes gets into the groove

After all the injury concerns in the first ODI, England's premier all-rounder reassured his fans with a spectacular hundred after he was dropped off the first two balls by Amla and de Kock respectively.

Stokes slammed his first home hundred and his second in the format off 77 balls with three hits over the fence.

IPL's Most Valuable Player was attacking from the onset and got able support from Eoin Morgan and later from Jos Buttler. South Africa, without Stokes' Pune teammate, Imran Tahir, looked out of ideas with the ball as Stokes looked in ominous nick.

He fell with more than six overs left in the England innings but had by then ensured they were well on their way to a match-winning score.

#4 Buttler and Ali finish in style

Buttler found his mojo towards the end of the innings and took England to 330

If England thought that Ben Stokes' wicket in the 44th over would peg them back they were quite wrong. Jos Buttler, who had until then looked rather uncomfortable at the wicket, stepped up in the company of Moeen Ali.

An over after Stokes' dismissal, the duo smacked Andile Phehlukwayo for 22 in 6 balls with 5 boundaries to reveal their intentions of not backing down.

Buttler had by then got into his groove and went on to smash a half-century off 46 balls. Amla let off Moeen Ali in Maharaj's over, the third dropped catch off the debutant spinner in the game. Ali finished on 33 off 19 balls while Buttler remained unbeaten on 65 off 53 deliveries.

#3 Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers rattle England

Quinton de Kock almost scored his second hundred since arriving in England

Any opposition will shake in their boots looking at the Proteas top order. Their top four are all in the top 10 of ICC's best batsmen list and are more than capable of changing the course of a game in no time.

Two of them, de Kock and de Villiers, looked free-flowing from the start and compiled a superb stand to give England a few headaches in the middle overs.

De Villiers was in sublime touch, as he was in Leeds, while de Kock seemed all set for his second hundred since landing in England. However, with the partnership on 96, Liam Plunkett produced the perfect bouncer, that had de Villiers ducking uncomfortably, only to glove the ball behind to Buttler.

De Kock fell soon after to a well flighted Moeen Ali delivery two short of his hundred and the onus was on the lower middle order to finish the game.

#2 Liam Plunkett impresses

Plunkett pocketed the deadly de Villiers to stall South Africa's progress in the chase

England went into the game without Chris Woakes but Liam Plunkett stepped up yet again for the hosts. The quickie has equalled Hasan Ali as the top wicket-taker in 2017 and has had quite a few variations to his armoury, making him a dangerous bowler to face on two paced wickets.

Plunkett got rid of Faf du Plessis quite early in the Proteas' innings but his real moment came in another spell.

Knowing that the square boundaries were big and the short ball held up, Plunkett kept hitting the deck hard and was eventually rewarded with the big scalp of AB de Villiers. He completed his spell with the wicket of Farhaan Behardien to finish with figures of 3/64.

#1 South African finishers get a workout

Miller played a wonderful knock although he couldn't win the game for the Proteas

David Miller and Chris Morris are South Africa's assigned men with the willow in the death overs. They do have the likes of Dwaine Pretorius and Andile Phehlukwayo to assist them but Morris and Miller would prefer finishing games on their own. The duo had a warm-up task in front of them as Morris joined Miller with 65 needed off 39 balls.

Morris deposited any length balls delivered at him while Miller had already compiled a fine half-century. Mark Wood and Liam Plunkett were steaming in, but Miller and Morris found ways to get boundaries and keep the target within view.

Morris slammed a six off Wood's last ball of the penultimate over and Miller deposited Jake Ball over long-off next ball to put South Africa in the driver's seat. However, the duo failed to get seven in the last over from an immaculate Mark Wood.