South Africa secured their ODI series victory against England with a 5-run win in the second match at Lord’s on Thursday. The win was anchored by Matthew Breetzke’s historic 85-run innings.Breetzke, who replaced the unwell Wiaan Mulder, made history by becoming the first player in ODI cricket to score fifty or more runs in his first five matches.The South African innings featured Breetzke’s 77-ball performance, along with contributions from Aiden Markram’s 49 and Tristan Stubbs’ 58. After being asked to bat first, South Africa posted 330-8 in their allocated 50 overs.“It was a more than competitive score. I definitely would have taken that when we were three wickets down,” Proteas captain Temba Bavuma said.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!England’s performance improved from their previous match at Headingley, where they were dismissed for 131. Despite losing Jamie Smith in the first over, they mounted a strong challenge.Jacob Bethell’s impressive 40 runs off 58 balls, including four consecutive boundaries, combined with Joe Root’s 61 off 72 balls in a 77-run partnership for the third wicket.Jos Buttler contributed with a quick 61 off 51 balls before being bowled by Lungi Ngidi’s slower delivery.Will Jacks kept England’s hopes alive with two sixes but fell in the 47th over to Nandre Burger, who finished with figures of 3-63. The final over required 16 runs with one wicket remaining.Jofra Archer’s late surge of 27 runs off 14 balls, including two fours and two sixes, wasn’t enough as England finished at 325-9.“They probably got 10, 15 too many, but to get within one blow of their score, I thought was a good effort,” England captain Harry Brook said.The series concludes with the third ODI scheduled for Sunday in Southampton.
