Bethell’s first ton sets up record England win over SA

Southampton’s third one-day international

England 414-5 (50 overs): Bethell 110, Root 100

class=”ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3″>South Africa 72 all out (20.5 overs): Bosch 20, Archer 4-18

England won the series by 342 runs, and SA won it 2-1.

Before Jofra Archer ripped through South Africa to defeat England by a record 342 runs in the third one-day international in Southampton, Jacob Bethell recorded his eagerly awaited first professional century.

After the series ended, Bethell, age 21, who had a long chance of a bright future despite his lackluster county playing, delivered on all of his promise by winning England’s 411-run victory with an elegant 110 from 82 balls.

Before Jos Buttler took on the scoring with a devastating 62 not out of 32 balls, the left-hander put on 182 with Joe Root, who himself stroked a 96-ball 100.

In his 33rd international innings, Bethell scored his second-youngest ODI centurion, surpassing David Gower, making it England’s highest total in three years and their best performance at home since 2018.

With a game to spare, South Africa’s impressive victories at Headingley and Lord’s, which had already secured the series, were far below the standards set.

When the players shook hands with Temba Bavuma unable to bat, they dropped Bethell on 44 and gave away 19 wides. This was England’s largest run-producing innings in men’s cricket history.

In a quick and hostile new-ball spell, Archer reduced the Proteas to 7-4 and 24-6, which they never recovered from. He finished with 4-18 and Adil Rashid 3-13.

After a difficult run in the 50-over format, England came away with a morale-boosting win despite the series already over.

England couldn’t have asked for more, as far as dead rubbers go.

Yes, the thumping victory was largely irrelevant, but a top-tier player’s breakout innings made for a near-perfect afternoon.

Bethell spent a while on vacation. He hasn’t played since giving up his Test spot by playing in the Indian Premier League. He acknowledged before this game that playing so little cricket had been a mistake.

However, the rhythm that was changed to 58 at Lord’s on Thursday was once more on full display.

He fought with left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, the top-ranked bowler in the world, once more, and he did well with that responsibility and effort.

After he pounced on anything short, Bethell was forced to make his first straight six, one of three in his innings against Maharaj. Nandre Burger spilled one of those pulls midway through, and the wicketkeeper also had a top edge, but he managed to make 16 eye-catching runs.

In the 1990s, Bethell delivered only four deliveries, but she never appeared obstinate.

Despite their good qualities, South Africa was equally bad.

Jamie Smith was comically put down on 23 when a leading edge from the opener, whose 62 gave England the lead, looped to him at extra cover.

The most cliched of innings was played by Root as the anchor afterward.

He largely accumulated, despite only breaking two records before breaking one famous reverse scoop in the process to reach 50. In any of his 19 ODI tons, his dot ball percentage in reaching three figures was the second-lowest.

After Bethell was slammed off Maharaj in the second innings, Skipper Hary Brook improbably ran himself out in a bizarre manner.

That only allowed Buttler to enter the 41st over, perfectly timed for England, and he drove, raked, and pulled to give the finale a resemblance to the hosts’ best moments.

By the time they faced off in the dark and flashy conditions, South Africa appeared to be out of luck.

A sorry slide followed after Aiden Markram’s successful delivery from Archer’s second ball.

Archer’s top speed was 93 mph. Tristan Stubbs was taken at second slip after he nicked off Ryan Rickelton and bounced out Breetzke, who had a run of fifty in each of his ODI innings that ended with five runs.

I don’t pay attention to what people say, and I don’t listen to what people say, to be honest. I wanted it for both the team and myself, not with anyone else. It was a wonderful experience, addicting, and hopefully more will follow.

England bowler Jofra Archer, the match’s winner, said, “I just tried to hit the pitch hard and bowl straight,” and that’s it. You’ll occasionally bowl well and leave with nothing like at Headingley, but occasionally you’ll have something similar.

“I feel well,” I said. I didn’t anticipate playing this one because it used to be like workload management but it still meant a lot when I got to play three games in a row.

Temba Bavuma, the captain of South Africa, said, “We were just poor in every department. We were truly let down by our fielding. Not ideal, especially with the extras.

With the bat, it was always going to be difficult, and with Archer and Carse, we were put in no chance.