South Africa v England, 2015-16
Wisden's review of the firth ODI, South Africa v England, 2015-16
15-Apr-2016
At Cape Town, February 14, 2016. South Africa won by five wickets. Toss: South Africa.
South Africa became the fourth side to recover from 2-0 down to win a one-day series, thanks to a composed unbeaten hundred from de Villiers, which he ranked among his best. His side had collapsed to 22 for three against the swing of Topley, but Amla provided typical stability in a recovery stand of 125 - his 11th three-figure partnership with de Villiers in only 37 innings - before Wiese powered late runs to secure victory with six overs in hand. A below-par target of 237 meant de Villiers, in his 200th one-day international, could eschew risk. But he still reached three figures,for the 24th time, from a deceptively brisk 94 balls. For the third game in a row, an England centurion ended up on the losing side: without Hales's 112 - the higher of his two ODI hundreds - the scorecard would have looked particularly forlorn. He needed some luck after early-morning showers had freshened the pitch, but also played commanding shots, and his fifth successive score of 50-plus took his aggregate to 383, both England records for a five-match series (Root's 351 in this series was second on the list); only Yasir Hameed (for Pakistan at home to New Zealand in 2003-04) and Kane Williamson (for New Zealand at home to India in 2013-14) had previously reached 50 in every innings of a five-match series. Otherwise, too many batsmen fell to over-adventure, not least Morgan,who shimmied at Wiese, and flashed a wide delivery to the keeper; his series return was a measly 64 runs. Imran Tahir threatened in every spell, and was rewarded for imploring de Villiers to review a leg-before decision against Root. South Africa's seamers overdid the short ball, but the loss of Stokes- bowled behind his legs - and Buttler to successive legitimate deliveries from Rabada left England without their biggest hitters too early in the piece. The last seven wickets fell for 81 runs, with fiveovers unused.Man of the Match:A. B. de Villiers.
Man of the Series:A. D. Hales.
South Africa became the fourth side to recover from 2-0 down to win a one-day series, thanks to a composed unbeaten hundred from de Villiers, which he ranked among his best. His side had collapsed to 22 for three against the swing of Topley, but Amla provided typical stability in a recovery stand of 125 - his 11th three-figure partnership with de Villiers in only 37 innings - before Wiese powered late runs to secure victory with six overs in hand. A below-par target of 237 meant de Villiers, in his 200th one-day international, could eschew risk. But he still reached three figures,for the 24th time, from a deceptively brisk 94 balls. For the third game in a row, an England centurion ended up on the losing side: without Hales's 112 - the higher of his two ODI hundreds - the scorecard would have looked particularly forlorn. He needed some luck after early-morning showers had freshened the pitch, but also played commanding shots, and his fifth successive score of 50-plus took his aggregate to 383, both England records for a five-match series (Root's 351 in this series was second on the list); only Yasir Hameed (for Pakistan at home to New Zealand in 2003-04) and Kane Williamson (for New Zealand at home to India in 2013-14) had previously reached 50 in every innings of a five-match series. Otherwise, too many batsmen fell to over-adventure, not least Morgan,who shimmied at Wiese, and flashed a wide delivery to the keeper; his series return was a measly 64 runs. Imran Tahir threatened in every spell, and was rewarded for imploring de Villiers to review a leg-before decision against Root. South Africa's seamers overdid the short ball, but the loss of Stokes- bowled behind his legs - and Buttler to successive legitimate deliveries from Rabada left England without their biggest hitters too early in the piece. The last seven wickets fell for 81 runs, with fiveovers unused.Man of the Match:A. B. de Villiers.
Man of the Series:A. D. Hales.