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South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad analysed his team’s performance in the third ODI performance against England in Hampshire and acknowledged that the Proteas didn’t play quality cricket at all. In the third match of the series, South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and elected to field first. His decision proved disastrous as England batters looked relentless and erected a mammoth total of 414/5 in 50 overs. Joe Root (100 off 96) and Jacob Bethell (110 off 82) racked up centuries from their bats while Jos Buttler also contributed with his unbeaten 62 off just 38.
Chasing the target, the Protea side got decimated by Jofra Archer, who picked up a four-wicket haul and played the instrumental role in bundling out the visitors on 72 in 20.5 overs. With this terrible performance, South Africa registered their biggest defeat (by runs) in the 50-over format.
Following the underwhelming performance, when Conrad appeared in the post-match presser, he called out his team and termed the colossal loss embarrassing. "Any excuse is better than none. We were definitely off today. And against a top side like England, when you're not on top of your game, you do get exposed. A similar thing happened in Australia, where after going 2-0 up, it was a complete aberration. They got in excess of 400 as well. But if we were going to be poor at something, we'd rather be poor at games that aren't clutch games. We're not making light of today's defeat. That was slightly embarrassing," said the Protea side’s coach.
South Africa to lock horns against England in the first T20I on September 10
After the incredible ODI series, action will now move to the T20 International (T20I) series between both sides. The first game will be played in Cardiff on September 10. After losing the 50-over competition, England will look to dominate the Proteas to conclude the white-ball series on a high note.
Discussing their head-to-head record, South Africa have won 13 off 26 games while on 12 occasions, England stood tall. One game ended with no result. Their last meeting happened in T20 World Cup 2024 match played in Gros Islet, where the Proteas claimed a seven-run win while defending 163 runs
