Left-armers blow away South Africa as England square ODI series

England’s legion of left-armers blew away South Africa’s top order to seal a crushing 118-run victory in the second one-day international and set-up a Royal London Series decider.

It was make or break at Emirates Old Trafford with Jos Buttler side’s having lost five of their previous seven white-ball games this month and staring down the prospect of a third straight series defeat.

Defending 201 all out in a rain-reduced 29-over contest, England’s southpaw seamers Reece Topley, David Willey and Sam Curran weaved their magic as the chase eventually subsided for a miserable 83.

Topley and Willey, recalled after being rested for the previous match, left the tourists in all kinds of trouble at six for four before fellow left-armer Curran joined the party with his fourth ball to make it 27 for five.

South Africa’s hopes of chasing the target had effectively ended, but with light showers returning at the worst possible time England were soon dashing through their overs in a bid to complete the game.

That brought spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali into the game and they mopped up the last five wickets to end things in the 21st over.

England had earlier leant on their lower middle order to post a competitive total with the bat after slipping from 52 for one to 72 for five.

Dwaine Pretorius was the primary antagonist, with three big wickets in the space of just seven deliveries. Phil Salt and the bankable Joe Root were both overly ambitious in their attempts to take on his smart back-of-length balls and Jonny Bairstow (28) was bowled by a well-disguised slower ball.

Moeen and Buttler both came unstuck but two power hitters still managed to leave their mark on the scoreboard. Liam Livingstone hit 38 in 26 balls and Curran made 35