Jofra Archer takes six wickets as England beat South Africa in final ODI

Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan scored backs-to-the-wall centuries but it was Jofra Archer’s stunning return of six for 40 which led England to a consolation victory by 59 runs in the final match of their ODI series at the Diamond Oval on Wednesday night.

Having made an unlikely 346 for seven thanks a record stand of 232 between the England captain and Malan, the hosts refused to be cowed, despite Archer’s brilliance, but they were once again left contemplating the possibility that they could miss out on automatic qualification for the World Cup in October despite winning the series 2-1.

Lungi Ngidi claimed a wicket in each of his first three overs as England crashed to 14 for three when Jason Roy (1) drove to mid-off, Ben Duckett (0) wafted to the keeper and Harry Brook (6) inside-edged to gloveman Heinrich Klaasen.

Malan paid scant attention to runs for a full 10 overs, aware than another wicket inside the first 15 overs would make a difficult recovery close to impossible. Buttler placed his pushes well and waited only for the rare poor deliveries to unleash any power.

At the 40-over mark the score was an astonishing 239 for three and, not only had the partnership been chanceless, it had also never been chancy. They hit 15 sixes between them, clearing the ropes with rows of seats to spare every time, the captain mostly straight driving the spinners while Malan pulled the seamers with precision.

By the time Malan finally top-edged a slog-sweep against seamer Sisanda Magala to depart for 118 from 114 balls (at one stage he had 23 from 50 balls) the partnership had mushroomed to 234, the fourth highest for any wicket in ODIs for England. It was a remarkable feat of pacing, especially for Buttler who has spoken of his