Breetzke's record half-century powers SA to series win in Lord's thriller

Breezy half-centuries by Jacob Bethell (40-ball 58) and Jos Buttler (51-ball 61) went in vain as South Africa secured a narrow five-run win against England in a thrilling contest at Lord's, on Thursday, to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series and securing their first ODI series win in England since 1998.

Set to chase 331 for victory, England lost opener Jamie Smith caught behind off the first ball of the innings. Even as Joe Root gave England the early impetus by taking on Lungi Ngidi and Nandre Burger, Ben Duckett's struggle ensured the hosts couldn't get the necessary move on. He was eventually cleaned up by Maharaj on 14, in the 13th over of the innings.

In a move it proved helpful for England as Bethell and Root provided the solidity as well as the pace through the middle overs. Bethell took down Keshav Maharaj, spanking the spinner for a six and three boundaries off successive deliveries in the 19th over. In the next, Root brought up his 43rd ODI fifty - surpassing Eoin Morgan's tally as the highest by an English batter. They put on a 77-run stand for the third wicket in only 64 balls. However, their dismissals in quick succession pegged England back again.

Nonetheless, before South Africa could pounce on the opportunity, Jos Buttler stitched a couple of handy partnerships, in the company of Harry Brook and Will Jacks to keep England strong in the chase, adding 69 and 40-run stands respectively with the two.

However, with Ngidi cleaning up Buttler in the 43rd over, England's innings came apart. With the required rate hovering around 10-an-over, the lower order were under the pump and lost their wickets in the hid to go for quick runs. Burger was the beneficiary, adding the wickets of Jacks and Brydon Carse to his tally.

Even as wickets kept tumbling, Jofra Archer's late assault kept England in the hunt. He smashed a breezy 14-ball 27 breezy, bringing the equation down to seven runs off the last ball before inside-edging a good length delivery to short fine.

Earlier in the day, half-centuries by Matthew Breetzke and Tristan Stubbs laid the platform for South Africa's 330 for 8. The duo were aided by handy contributions by the rest of the batting order, especially Aiden Markram (49), Ryan Rickelton (35), Dewald Brevis (42) and Corbin Bosch (32*) after being put in to bat.

Markram and Rickelton provided a solid start with a 73-run stand, at nearly run-a-ball, for the opening wicket. The duo took a cautious approach early on, but started to cut loose from the 10th over when Saqib Mahmood offered two overpitched deliveries for Rickelton to drive for boundaries as South African openers brought up their half-century stand in that over. A more serious attack followed a couple of overs later when Markram drove, pulled and punched Jofra Archer for three successive boundaries.

However, Archer had the last laugh as the momentum provided by the opening stand was seized away quickly. He had Rickelton and Temba Bavuma caught behind in successive overs, and Markram fell one short of a half-century after offering Adil Rashid a return catch to a slider, reducing the visitors to 93 for 3 by the 19th over.

Breetzke and Stubbs then combined to revive the innings with a stellar 147-run partnership for the fourth wicket. In the process, Breetzke became the first player to register half-centuries in each of his first five ODI innings. The duo was watchful for a while, largely relying on rotating the strike before Breetzke tore into Jacob Bethell in the 27th over. But that was an aberration to an otherwise watchful approach. Adil Rashid was especially difficult to put away through the middle overs.

The real attack had to wait for another 10 overs when Will Jacks was taken apart for 17 runs, largely courtesy Stubbs' assault.

Breetzke then punished Brydon Carse for his shorter lengths pulling him for a couple of boundaries and a six. Archer returned to the attack and had him trapped legbefore on 85. A couple of overs later, Stubbs found himself stranded in the middle courtesy a miscommunication with Brevis and had his innings cut short too, leaving South Africa with two new batters at the crease in the death overs.

Brevis made up for his fault with a breezy 20-ball 42, smashing Bethell and carse for sixes in consecutive overs. After he departed, the mantle of picking late boundaries fell on Bosch, who did his bit but kept losing partners from the other end. Nonetheless, South Africa recovered well after the dismissal of the top order to mount a competitive total.

South Africa 330/8 in 50 overs (Matthew Breetzke 85, Tristan Stubbs 58; Jofra Archer 4-62, Adil Rashid 2-33) beat England 325/9 in 50 overs (Jos Buttler 61, Joe Root 61; Nandre Burger 3-63, Keshav Maharaj 2-59) by 5 runs