Razeen Gutta
The third ODI in Leeds was abandoned due to rain, with the series ending level at 1-1 ahead of the T20s and test matches.
The Proteas won the toss and elected to bat, getting off to a solid start courtesy of Quinton de Kock at the top of the order.
Janneman Malan departed for 12 with Rassie Van Der Dussen coming in to score 26 off 38 deliveries.
De Kock steered the innings towards what could have been a very good total, scoring 92 not out off 76 balls. Unfortunately, the weather gods had other plans, bringing a halt to proceedings after 27.4 overs with the Proteas 159/2. No further cricket was played.
The two teams will share the trophy, with South Africa captain Kehsav Maharaj saying post-match that the team are looking forward to the T20s now.
“We didn’t want to focus much on the toss, we saw what happened the other day. He (de Kock) looked in great touch. Lots of cricket left on the tour. Hopefully he can carry this form.
“We found a good combination,” hej said. “It’s just about being consistent. We are looking forward to the T20s.”
Van Der Dussen, who was named player of the series, said that today could have been a great game and was happy with how the side fared against world champions England.
“We were in a pretty good position today. We knew we had to take care of the powerplay but it was better later on. Real shame the rain came in. We wanted to hit the ground running and we were happy. We had a poor batting display in the second game but it happens,” Van Der Dussen said.
“The blueprint is there and we are in a good position. My role is to see off the powerplay and play sensible cricket.We had to be at our best against the world champions. England were good in stages, we were good in stages. Could have been interesting today.”
The first of three T20s kicks off in Bristol on Wednesday afternoon.
