Russell's horrendous slog

How much were West Indies still shaken by AB de Villiers' fastest hundred in ODI history? They picked an experimental side and then self-destructed, showing little appetite for picking their way to a defendable target on a low, slow one at Buffalo Park. When the match finished early, some of us got the chance to watch de Villiers on TV for the first time. Always look on the bright side.

Three ODIs in East London in nine years does not say much for South Africa's appetite for taking the game to the Eastern Cape. The crowd filled out visibly in the final two hours, only for the match to end before the dancing had barely begun.

Vernon Philander's first delivery immediately struck a perfect line and length and that was too good for Dwayne Smith who nicked a catch to de Villiers. It was pretty much downhill from there.

Flick your way through West Indies' dismissals and it will be hard to find much worse than the demise of Andre Russell, who tried to slog a length ball from Morne Morkel over square leg and had his leg stump hit. Pre-meditated or just an aberration? Horrendous, whatever it was.

Nothing cheered West Indies, who could not even summon a spirited performance in the field. Faf du Plessis benefited from a bad miss by Sulieman Benn, of Carlos Brathwaite, a mistimed, one-handed leap at mid-on.

Imran Tahir's 4 for 28 represented his best one-day figures and they were deserved on a day when his googly was in good working order.