Jofra Archer starred with the ball as England beat South Africa by 59 runs in the third ODI at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley on Wednesday, February 1. The speedster took a six-wicket haul to help the visitors register a consolation victory in the dead rubber.
Archer came out firing on all cylinders after a below-par outing (1/81) in the first ODI against the Proteas.
The 27-year-old finished with figures of 6/40 in his 9.1 overs, which included the prized wickets of Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klassen, David Miller, and Marco Jansen.
For the uninitiated, the right-arm seamer recently scalped eight wickets in five games for MI Cape Town in the inaugural SA20. He will look to continue his good form in the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand.
England and Mumbai Indians (MI) fans were delighted to see Archer perform well ahead of the IPL 2023 and 2023 ODI World Cup. Here are some of the best Twitter reactions:
Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan shine in England’s victory over South Africa
Earlier in the day, Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan starred with the bat as England posted 346/7 in their allotted 50 overs after being invited to bat first.
While Buttler scored 131 off 127 balls, Malan struck 118 off 114. Together, the duo hit 13 sixes and as many boundaries. The duo also shared a 232-run partnership for the fourth wicket to bail out England from 14/3. Moeen Ali also contributed with a quickfire 41 off 23 balls for England.
For South Africa, Lungi Ngidi was the pick of the bowlers, returning with figures of 4/62, while Marco Jansen scalped two wickets. Sisanda Magala also took a wicket.
In response, the Proteas were bundled out for 287 in 43.1 overs. Heinrich Klassen put on a fight and top-scored with 80, while Reeza Hendricks contributed 52.
Temba Bavuma and Wayne Parnell added 35 and 34 runs, respectively. Unfortunately, the hosts lost at regular intervals, which put South Africa out of the contest.
Besides Archer’s heroics, leg-spinner Adil Rashid scalped three wickets, while Chris Woakes also picked up a solitary wicket.
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