England vs South Africa 2017: 3rd ODI, 5 talking points

Modified May 29, 2017 22:00 IST

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 29: South Africa bowler Kagiso Rabada (l) is congratulated after dismissing Adil Rashid first ball during the 3rd Royal London Cup match between England and South Africa at Lord's Cricket Ground on May 29, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) — Rabada took three wickets in one over to seal England's fate in the dead rubber at Lord's

#1 England given a reality check

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 29: England captain Eoin Morgan (2nd left) leads his players off after a 7 wicket defeat after the 3rd Royal London Cup match between England and South Africa at Lord's Cricket Ground on May 29, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) — England were embarrassed by some spectacular bowling from the Proteas

England have been so good in the past few months that it seemed inevitable that they’d get complacent. They had scored above 300 in 10 of their last 11 games batting first before this one. Their top seven has everything from attacking openers, a stable no.3, some good finishers and a truck load of all-rounders.

They beat the no.1 ODI side in back to back games to win the series. However, all that was left in the shadows as Wayne Parnell and Kagiso Rabada gave their batsmen a reality check.

Being reduced to six down in five overs is as humiliating as it gets in this form of the game and a dead rubber suddenly seemed to have evoked much more impact than expected.

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I am a passionate Cricket fan first and a writer, second. I find empty spaces and fill them with words. And if it's cricket, the words keep flowing. The views I express portray a direct reflection of my love for the game and its finer details.

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Edited by Staff Editor