A fine knock of 88 by Ian Bell and useful contributions from Jonathan Trott (48) and Eoin Morgan (36*) helped England beat South Africa by 6 wickets to go 2-1 up in the series and keep their No.1 ranking in ODIs intact. Chasing 221 after a good bowling performance by James Tredwell (3/35), Bell was involved in a century partnership with Trott, before Morgan and Craig Kieswetter finished things off for the hosts.
Lucky South Africa hold firm
With overcast conditions to assist the seamers early on, Alastair Cook won the toss and decided to bowl first. England were unchanged while South Africa made one change by bringing in Ryan McLaren in place of Morne Morkel. Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla were watchful to begin with.
There was good bounce on offer and the likes of Steven Finn, James Anderson and Jade Dernbach also generated good pace, making it difficult for the batsmen to get them away. Although they were off to a slow start, the South African openers ensured that they did not lose early wickets.
England were also to blame for that as they gave South Africa early reprieves. Finn was the unlucky bowler as Tredwell put down Amla at second slip when the batsman was on 4. Then there was a close shout for leg-before in the 9th over when Finn rapped Amla on the pads.
Umpire Richard Illingworth ruled it not-out and when England reviewed the decision, replays justified the umpire's decision. There were a lot of dot balls while the boundaries were not so regular, but Smith and Amla took the singles and twos to take South Africa past fifty in the 16th over.
Meanwhile, Finn's bad luck continued as Smith got a let-off with Tredwell being the culprit again, putting down another sitter in first slip.
England strike back with quick wickets
England finally managed a breakthrough when Dernbach struck to send back Smith (29). The left-handed opener tried to pull a delivery that lifted off from short of a length but only managed to get a top edge through to the keeper.
JP Duminy, who was the next man in, started positively and built a partnership with Amla to help South Africa to the 100-run mark. Amla was looking good for a half-century but Ravi Bopara had other plans as he got one through Amla's defences to send him back on 45.
Soon, it was Duminy turn to depart - he was out stumped to Tredwell. Duminy (18) came skipping down the track to a flighted delivery but did not quite get to the pitch of it and was beaten by the turn to be stranded way out of the crease.
South Africa were in more trouble when Bopara struck for a second time, dismissing Faf du Plessis for 1. The right-handed batsman's poor form in this series continued as he tried to run one down to third man, only to chop it onto the stumps.
Regular strikes restrict South Africa
Following the loss of quick wickets, the responsibility rested on skipper AB de Villiers to help his team to recover. He stuck to his task, batting steadily by gathering the runs in ones and twos and received help from Dean Elgar as they tried to get South Africa back on track with a fifty run stand.
Although they kept South Africa steady, the boundaries were not coming - even the batting powerplay yielding none. The pressure therefore remained on the Proteas and this led to another wicket. de Villiers (39) attempted an expansive drive off Tredwell and dragged his back foot outside the crease and was out stumped.
Tredwell might have dropped a couple of catches early on but he made up for that by going on to pick up one more wicket. Wayne Parnell (5) was also done in by an excellent piece of spin bowling, the mode of dismissal being a stumping again which made Craig Kieswetter the only England wicket-keeper to effect three stumpings in an ODI.
South Africa were hoping to post a total of some respectability and to achieve that, they needed some boundaries. Robin Peterson provided them that as he came out with an aggressive frame of mind.
The left-hander thumped Tredwell for a four and a six in the 46th over before dispatching Dernbach for a couple of hits to the rope in the 48th to help South Africa past 200. While Peterson remained positive, Elgar on the other hand was struggling to find the boundaries and he eventually departed, falling to Finn on 35.
England soon left South Africa eight down when McLaren was run-out on 1. Peterson stayed till the end, scoring an unbeaten 31 off 20 balls to help South Africa to 220/8.
Trott and Bell build steady partnership after an early wicket
Cook has not had a great time with the bat in this series and this match provided him another opportunity to find form with the bat. However, that was not to be as he fell in the very first over, out leg-before to Dale Steyn on 2.
The England captain, who was trapped on the crease, looked to defend but missed the ball that came into him and was trapped plumb in front. Steyn and his new ball partner Lonwabo Tsotsobe kept the pressure on the England batsmen, trying to force another breakthrough.
But they were denied that courtesy of an intelligent partnership between Trott and Bell, who did not take too many risks and instead were content in picking up the runs in ones and twos while scoring boundaries whenever an opportunity presented itself.
By playing in this manner, the pair brought up a steady fifty-run partnership to get England going in the chase. There was a slight concern with Trott as he kept feeling his wrists, after being hit earlier by a Steyn delivery and needing the physio's attention. But the batsman continued his solid partnership with Bell even as it got a bit darker at Lord's, necessitating the flood lights to be switched on.
Bell and Trott push England forward
Bell was slower of the two partners before he upped the ante with some crisply timed boundaries in the bowling powerplay. Parnell was the bowler who came in for some expensive treatment, conceding 16 runs off his 2 overs in the powerplay.
South Africa's search for a breakthrough continued but they could not find any and extras did not help their cause either. Soon, it was time for the 100 run partnership to be raised and Trott brought that up in style with a flick over mid-wicket for four off McLaren.
Steyn was introduced in the 25th over and like always, he steamed in, giving his 100% to force a wicket. But the bowler was unlucky as Bell got an thick outside edge which went between the wicket-keeper and widish first slip. Personal milestone was next on Bell's agenda as he brought up his 23rd ODI fifty with a couple to third man off Steyn.
He took most of the strike after getting past 50 and batted positively to keep England in the driver's seat. He got a lucky break when Peterson grassed a simple chance at mid-on, denying Tsotsobe a wicket.
England go 2-1 up with comfortable win
While Bell kept going strong, the lack of strike for Trott eventually resulted in his dismissal. Trying to sweep Elgar, Trott (48) missed the delivery and was struck on his pads.
Umpire Simon Taufel turned down the appeal but when South Africa decided to review it, they ended up making the right decision. The dark clouds, which were getting darker as the match went on, finally gave away and the umpires decided to walk-off. England were ahead at this stage at 150/2 in the 35th over, with Bell on 80*.
According to the D/L method, England had scored 33 runs more than what was required. The interruption turned out to be a short one as both teams resumed their duties on the field and no overs were lost. The rain break seemed to have done South Africa a favour as Bopara fell cheaply to McLaren.
The batsman's poor form continued and he had to depart on 6 when he got a thick edge to the keeper while attempting a drive through the off-side. Morgan, who was the next man in, looked clearly a confident batsman after his knock of 73 in the previous match, and the way he started his innings showed that he was in a positive mindset.
Meanwhile, the next thing that was left for Bell to do, having built a platform and having pushed England forward, was to reach his 3rd ODI ton and see his team through. But the right-hander failed to get to the century mark, nicking a Steyn delivery to de Villiers to head back on a well-made 88.
After the rain break, Bell had consumed quite a few dot deliveries which slowed his team down a bit, and South Africa sensed an avenue to restrict England when they left the hosts 32 to win off the last 6 overs. However, Morgan in Craig Kieswetter's company, made sure not to raise South Africa's hopes, as they took England to the threshold of victory.
Kieswetter (21*) finished things off in a grand fashion, hitting Steyn for a couple of fours before lifting him for a maximum over long-off to help England win with 20 deliveries to spare,
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