England v South Africa 1998

At Leeds, May 24. England won by seven wickets. Toss: South Africa.

Now that the series was lost, England produced their best one-day form, sweeping to victory with 15 overs in hand. Fraser made his first international appearance of the summer, and his figures of two for 23 from ten overs were instrumental in limiting South Africa to 205 for eight. Pollock made 60 towards the end, but the extra runs that he and Boucher eked out proved irrelevant in the face of a spectacular opening partnership of 114 between Brown and Knight, followed by a more sedate unbroken 58-run stand between Stewart and Hussain. Brown, showing fast hands and a superb eye, reached 50 in 31 balls: only Chris Old, who needed 30 balls against India, at Lord's in 1975, has bettered that for England. Brown's fifty was the fastest in any Texaco Trophy game (beating Graeme Hick, 34 balls against Pakistan, at Trent Bridge in 1992), and it would remain so: Texaco had announced that after 15 seasons, this, their 53rd sponsored one-day international, would be their last.

Man of the Match: A. D. Brown. Men of the Series: D. Gough and J. N. Rhodes. Attendance: 13,809; receipts £384,578.