Match info Live Scorecard Squads Overs Highlights

159/2 (27.4)

CR : 5.75

CR : 0.00

Match Abandoned/due to rain

Hitesh: For Sure Keshav Maharaj would be regretting the decision that he made at the toss, If the game reduces to a 20 overs game the target for England would be around 170-175, That would be easy for England to chase down looking at the way pitch behaved in the 28 overs there was nothing much to offer for the bowlers from the pitch.
If the game reduces to 20 overs I would be really disappointed for de Kock as he would miss his well-deserved century, He looked in sublime touch today.

Anirudh: The rain has surely played spoil sport in what could have been a cracking encounter on this belter of a pitch. Coming to your question Ayan, I don't think Keshav Maharaj would regret batting first. With the rain pouring down, the conditions may change in the favor of his pacers. As we saw in the second ODI, England were ruthless with the ball in the second innings. South Africa could have the same advantage today, that is if we get going again!

20:38 IST: Bad news coming in from Headingly, The Match has been officially abandoned.

So, the match has been officially abandoned due to rain. Such a shame that the series had to be shared as the weather intervened in the end. The series finishes 1-1 as both teams will share the trophy.

Both teams will be disappointed after this. While South Africa were looking primed to set up a big score, already batting on 159/2 from 27.4 overs; England too would be hoping to test their batting prowess once again under such perfect conditions for batting.

Most disappointed of all would be one Quinton de Kock, the swashbuckling southpaw took this innings by the scruff of it's neck, smashing an unbeaten 92 runs off 76 balls, that consisted of 13 boundaries! A few more overs and he would have scored his century.

The Proteas did start off in good fashion before David Willey dismissed Janeman Malan in the 6th over. Rassie Van Der Dussen came in and stitched together a breezy 75 run partnership on either side of the first rain break. Play resumed and England had one strategy in mind, to get through the overs as fast as possible with the spinners doing much of the heavy lifting.

However, it didn't matter in the end as that was all the rain gods had in mind for today's encounter. Moeen Ali was in his 8th over before it started pouring and this time settling in for good.

The series ends 1-1, and South Africa still have not managed to win a single game at Headingley. Although, this one was not their fault.

Time for the Post Match presentation ceremony!!!!

Rassie van der Dussen, Player of the Series: "It's a pity. We were in a good position. We looked to get to 300+ but shame the rain came in and spoilt everything. The batting looks good and we are getting there. Getting 300+ at Durham was commendable, a hiccup two days ago and England were better than us. I think scoring a hundred in Durham was great and in the end, a fair result with both playing well at various stages. 1-1 but the rain was the victor today."

Keshav Maharaj(South Africa Captain): "We didn't want to focus too much on the weather, We accessed the conditions and batted first, de Kock played very beautifully, unfortunately, he couldn't get to his century, we have found a very good combination, we need to be more consistent and stay focussed.Definitely looking forward to the t20 series"

Jos Buttler, England Captain: "Yes, it was a good wicket and a tough ground to defend with smaller boundaries and so the game was evenly poised when the rain came. I think we can settle around and look like what we need with Ben not there, what we need in batting bowling. We have time to look to work out the options. Absolutely, Reece has stepped up and is playing well. We want players to step up. The depth in our white ball is tremendous and guys pushing for places only make it happen. Guys will step up, they are natural leaders. We have lost two players, they will go through a transition. It's all about building a team for that World Cup in India and focusing on the processes. We should have great matches and the grounds we are playing on should be fun. Good to be challenged on the pitches here. We can't dwell on playing on Flat tracks and would want to play on challenging tracks to better our game going forward."

Keshav Maharaj and Jos Buttler come forward and share the Royal London Trophy as the series ends 1-1.

It's time for us to now bid goodbye to our viewers. This is Anirudh Modi, signing off on behalf of my co-commentators Ayan Chatterjee and Hitesh Peddurwar, and our scorer / analyst Yogesh Kumar. Thank you for staying with us, see you on the next one!