SA vs ENG: Hundreds from Buttler, Malan stabilise England after Ngidi's early burst

Jos Buttler scored 131 off 127 in 3rd ODI (Associated Press)

Using the new-ball and condition in his favour, South Africa's smearing pace gun Lungi Ngidi took the top order of England one after the other using the seam movement off the deck.

The first man to fall was Jason Roy, who had his second successive failure after scoring a hundred in the first ODI, as he miscued a tough catch to mid-off off Ngidi's fuller delivery. 

Followed it with Ben Duckett's dismissal on the pace-gun's very next delivery. The southpaw went behind a short of a good length - that took off the deck - to nick the pebble behind to the keeper.

The third of the right-armer's early burst was Harry Brook's wicket. Another back of a length from the seamer kicked off the deck, but nibbled a bit, to kiss the bottom edge of the batter's handle.

After a four-over spell with the figures of 3 for 8, captain Temba Bavuma removed Ngidi from the attack, which in hindsight wasn't one of the bravest decision taken by the Proteas skipper in the series.

He returned with another spell a couple of overs later, but for nothing. From there on, England's Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan stabilised the innings. They laid the foundation of the partnership by going against the Bazball approach. 

The duo gave respect to the bowlers and batted rather cautiously. However, as the partnership started to build-on, the Proteas bowlers dropping loosener. Till the 30th over, Buttler and Malan batted in not-so-Bazball manner. However, after that, they just went berserk. 

Both of them put foot on the peddle after notching their respective fifties and converted into hundreds in no time. They shared a 232-run stand for the fourth wicket, which is also the fourth highest for England in ODI cricket. 

Malan, eventually, got tired after notching his third ODI ton, but the English skipper just kept piling on runs. He and his deputy, Moeen Ali, kept the run-flowing going on as they tonked the bowlers in the last ten overs.

On the back of hundreds from Buttler & Malan and Moeen's 23-ball 41 helped the Three Lions reach  346/7 at Kimberley.

As the trend of this series has been, South Africa can do anything with the bat but you can't discount the English bowlers when their backs are against the walls.

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