England beats South Africa by record 342-run margin in 3rd cricket ODI

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SOUTHAMPTON, England (AP) — England won by the biggest margin of victory in one-day international cricket history on Sunday, beating South Africa by 342 runs.

Pace bowler Jofra Archer took four wickets and England restored some pride to deny South Africa a sweep in the series-concluding third ODI.

Batting first after losing the toss, England posted 414-5 in 50 overs at Southampton’s Rose Bowl with centuries from Joe Root (100) and 21-year-old Jacob Bethell (110). Jos Buttler smashed a 32-ball, unbeaten 62. Opener Jamie Smith also hit 62 in 48 deliveries.

In reply, South Africa was dismissed for 72 in 20.5 overs after being reduced to 7-4 at one point as the edges kept coming from South Africa and the catches kept sticking for England.

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma was injured while fielding and did not bat.

Bethell hit the first hundred of his professional career, taking just 76 balls to do so and becoming the second-youngest England batter to score an ODI century after David Gower in 1978. Bethell, who reached the landmark with a drive through extra-cover, was finally stumped on the charge against Keshav Maharaj (2-61), ending his partnership of 182 with Root.

“It was a great feeling, an addictive feeling and hopefully more to come,” Bethell said.

Archer produced a sensational new-ball spell and took four wickets for only five runs in his first five overs. He finished with figures of 4-18 in nine overs.

Serving up a relentlessly threatening burst of pace that saw him hit 93 mph (150 kph), Archer appeared like he could have wiped out the entire team but had to settle for Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Matthew Breetzke and Tristan Stubbs. Brydon Carse added two wickets and Adil Rashid took the last three to complete the rout.

India held the previous winning margin record of 317 runs against Sri Lanka in 2023. Dozens of teams have won by the maximum number of wickets (10) but this is the highest winning margin by runs in ODIs.

South Africa won the series 2-1, clinching it with a game to spare after a five-run win last Thursday.

South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad was disappointed but took some solace from the two wins that came before.

“We were definitely off it today,” he said. “Against a top side like England, when you’re not on top of game, you do get exposed.

“If we are going to be poor at something we’d rather be poor at games that aren’t clutch games, but I’m not making light of today’s game — that was slightly embarrassing.”

England was skittled for 131 on the way to losing the first match by seven wickets at Headingley.

A three-match T20 series between the two teams starts in Cardiff on Wednesday.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket