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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.

Final-round leaderboard for the Irish Open

-17 R McIlroy (NI) *, J Lagergren (Swe)

McIlroy wins the sudden-death play-off’s third hole.

Selected others: -15 A Hidalgo (Spa), R Cabrera-Bello (Spa), -13 A Ayora (Spa), A Saddier (Fra), -7 S Lowry (Ire), -6 T McKibbin (NI), -2 T Hatton (Eng)

Rory McIlroy won the Irish Open in a dramatic play-off and won for the first time since earning a Grand Slam at the Masters in April.

At the conclusion of a thrilling final round, the world number two edged out Joakim Lagergren of Sweden on the third extra hole to claim his second national title at the K Club.

In a remarkable finish, McIlroy completed Lagergren’s six-under-par 66 with a 25-foot eagle putt on the 72nd hole, amid ecstatic scenes on the County Kildare course.

The Northern Irishman’s fourth victory of the year comes just three weeks before the Ryder Cup, but McIlroy won after Lagergren found water on the third hole after birdiing the first two play-off holes.

This has been absolutely incredible, McIlroy said to Sky Sports, “I thought it was going to be a nice homecoming, obviously coming home with a green jacket and everything.”

“This has been beyond my expectations,” he said. I’m so, so happy that I got to play this week’s way for everyone and win.

After the heartache of Royal County Down, where McIlroy was 12 months ago when he missed an eagle putt on the final hole, took Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard to extra holes, there was a sense of redemption for him.

McIlroy, however, knocked his eagle putt home on Sunday, winning the play-off for the third time this year after the Players Championship and the Masters.

He continued, “I hit it, and I wanted to just be aggressive with it.”

With a dropped shot on the opening hole, McIlroy’s hopes were dented by four shots at the start of the day when he was four shots behind overnight leader Adrien Saddier.

However, he made three birdies in his final four holes, including the second and fifth, to reclaim the lead.

McIlroy also birdied the ninth and thirteenth holes, and he added a memorable shot to keep his hopes alive on the 18th.

With Lagergren, Saddier, Angel Hidalgo, and Rafael Cabrera-Bello making a hole-in-one on the third day, McIlroy was in a five-way tie for the lead.

After a stunning eagle on the 16th after knocking his 266-yard approach five feet, 36-hole leader Lagergren made three birdies before bogging down to make the 74-hole par.

Lagergren, who won the 2018 DP World Tour’s only other title, was the last to clear the chase pack.

Importantly, McIlroy’s win on Sunday marks his best-ever appearance since his low-key PGA Tour season ended in a draw.

McIlroy and his European team-mates will attempt to defend their Ryder Cup title against the United States at Bethpage Black in New York after winning the BMW PGA Championship next week at Wentworth.

No matter what happens for the rest of the year, McIlroy said, “To do what I did earlier in the year and then to win my national open,” it was a pretty cool year.

“2025 will go down as one of my best, if not the best of my career.”

We’re not yet finished, as I said. Everyone is looking forward to the Ryder Cup, and I have a busy week ahead of me at Wentworth next week.

Georgiy Sudakov, a midfielder from Ukraine, claims a Russian drone struck his home in Kyiv, severely damaged.

Although Sudakov, 23, is currently away on international duty with Ukraine, he posted photos and videos of the attack’s aftermath on his Instagram account.

Is it unknown whether Sudokov’s family suffered any harm in the attack?

After tonight, I’ll have my house look like this. The shaheed’s [sic] arrival In the accompanying post, Sudakov writes that the wife, child, and mother were present at the time.

Russia sent a wave of 805 drones and 13 missiles over the course of an overnight mission, according to the air force of Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, confirmed four people were killed and 44 were hurt, despite the air force’s claim that it shot down 751 of them.

Residents of Kyiv have provided witness accounts of Sudakov’s post’s use of Shahed drones.

South of the Kyiv district’s Svyatoshyns’kyi district is where BBC Verify located the apartment building that houses Sudakov’s apartment.

The building’s upper floors are reportedly severely damaged, blackened, and ruined, along with portions of the walls and windows that have been verified in photos and videos.

Rubb and rubble are scattered on top of outside parking lots and across the street.

In August, Sudakov, who was born in Bryanka, a region that is currently being occupied by Russian forces, transferred from Shakhtar Donetsk to Portugal’s Benfica.

He claimed in an interview last year that it was difficult for him to play professionally football during the Ukrainian War and to frequently be away from his family in Kyiv.

In February 2024, Sudakov said, “When your family is far away and the first thing you wake up to is a text from your wife saying she and your child are hiding in the bathroom, it’s psychologically difficult.”

All footballers are aware of this at this time, when the country is in a very difficult position. We feel responsible and proud when we represent the nation’s supporters.