England vs South Africa 2017: 3rd ODI, 5 talking points
A sensational opening spell from Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell on a green top at Lord's saw England reduced to 20/6 within five overs, the first time a team has lost that many in five overs in ODI history. A recovery of sorts from Johnny Bairstow and David Willey took England past 100 and some respectability.
But the result of the game was sealed inside those five overs. Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla helped South Africa to a bright start and AB de Villiers and Duminy took them past the target of 154 with little fuss. The skipper, in particular, seemed to be in good nick for the Proteas.
England, on the other hand, will ponder how a dead rubber turned into a nightmarish last game before the Champions Trophy. Granted that this was an inconsequential match, but the manner in which the top order succumbed on a green track will embarrass England.
Brief Scores: England 153/10 (Bairstow 51, Rabada 4/39, Maharaj 3/25) lost to South Africa 156/3 (Amla 55, de Kock 34)
Take a look at the talking points from the final ODI of the three match series between England and South Africa.
#5 England, 20/6 in 5 overs
Cricket is a funny game. One day you are smashing scores of 300+ at will and the next day you are 20/6 in 5 overs. The English batsmen wore a sour look as Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell steamed in to reduce them to 20/6 in 5 overs. It was the quickest loss of the top six wickets in the history of ODIs. Jason Roy departed in the very first over from Rabada, continuing his streaky run of form.
Joe Root fell to a peach from Parnell and Eoin Morgan followed suit. When Hales tried to slam an on-song Rabada, the crowd were appalled as would have been the England skipper and coach. Buttler and Rashid fell off successive balls in the same over as Rabada picked up four within five overs of the game and England were left bruising at 20/6.