Summary

  • Match abandoned: SA 250-5 (33.3)

  • De Kock 138* off 96 balls

  • England's second highest ODI total

  • Buttler 105 off 76, Stokes 57, Hales 57

  • England lead 1-0 in five-match series

Live Reporting

Stephan Shemilt, Phil Dawkes and Justin Goulding

  1. Ebony Rainford-Brent
    Ex-England batter on BBC Test Match Special

    "Morgan didn't quite get to the pitch of it, but he was doing the right thing, trying to keep this momentum going."

  2. Simon Hughes
    BBC Test Match Special

    "Morgan didn't quite time that one and Morkel took an easy catch at waist height."

  3. wicket

    WICKET - Morgan c Morkel b Tahir 23

    Eng 256-4

    Eoin MorganAP

    This will be a big disappointment for Morgan. He smashed Tahir for six off the spinner's first ball but misjudges another attempted big hit and is caught by Morne Morkel, running in from long-on.

  4. Eng 248-3 (Morgan 16, Buttler 67)

    Buttler has been off strike in the last few overs but Morgan is looking to pick up where the Lancashire man left off. Not an easy task, though, against South Africa's best bowler Morne Morkel, who varies his pace and keeps his seventh over to just three runs. 

  5. Vic Marks
    Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

    "There's so many options there and England got to explore a few - putting in Buttler at four. If he stays there, anything is possible. He continues to astound."

  6. Eng 245-3 (Run-rate 7.43)

    It must be great to bat in circumstances like this. No pressure, chance to be creative. Morgan is exactly that as he drops to one knee and dinks a paddle shot past Quinton de Kock off Tahir for four. He then reverse sweeps for another boundary. It is almost taking the mickey.

  7. Get Involved

    #bbccricket

    Graeme Smith of South AfricaGetty Images

    Oliver Bunting: This has all the makings of that Aus v SA classic from a few years back. Don't count out SA taking our attack to task in reply.

  8. Eng 235-3 (Buttler 65, Morgan 5)

    Morgan is in on the act. He skips down the track and flays a Morris delivery to the mid-off boundary. The skipper knows that he needs to keep the momentum going. He and Buttler have a drinks break now to plan their assault.

  9. England's highest ODI totals

    Jos ButtlerGetty Images
    • 408-9 v New Zealand, Edgbaston, 2015
    • 391-4 v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge, 2005
    • 365-9 v New Zealand, The Oval, 2015
    • 363-7 (55 overs) v Pakistan, Trent Bridge, 1992
    • 355-5 v Pakistan, Dubai, 2015

  10. Eng 230-3 (Run-rate 7.42)

    Imran TahirRex Features

    So are we still working to the theory that you double your score from 30 overs? If so, this is going to be an absolute monster of a total. ABDV calls on Tahir to welcome the new man to the crease. It's a tidy over, going for just three.

  11. Vic Marks
    Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

    "Was there just a flicker of reverse swing? More likely is that he had a few deliveries where the timing was awry, he got fed up, then he just played across a ball of full length. He's been the glue for England and played very well." 

  12. wicket

    WICKET - Root b Morris 52

    Eng 227-3

    Christopher MorrisAFP

    A half-century is as far as Root is going to go in this innings. Morris finishes a decent over with a ball that nips in a bit and catches an inside edge before clattering into leg stump. That is a shame for England, although the base is firmly established now and the tourists have loads of batting to come, including the next man Eoin Morgan.

  13. Eng 224-2

    Morkel watches dejected as Buttler punts another over wide mid-off for four. It is a look that, like Blakey from On the Buses, says 'I 'ate you Buttler'.

  14. Vic Marks
    Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

    "You could say that, by the standards of today, it's a pedestrian knock. But, with the all the guys around him, Root is playing the perfect knock for England."

  15. 50 runs

    50 for Root

    Eng 217-2

    Joe RootRex Features

    Root steers a short ball to the boundary and that is his 50. He really is a remarkable player. He scores runs more efficiently than any player in world cricket, without you even realising he's doing it. It's almost ninja-like.

  16. Geoffrey Boycott
    Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

    "There's four zebras outside my window. When I woke up this morning I thought I was in the wrong place. I thought I'd be locked up. You don't expect to see striped pajamas in Bloemfontein."

  17. Eng 213-2 (Run-rate 8.60)

    Buttler is eyeing every ball as a potential boundary now, for better or worse. He looks to smash Farhaan Behardien over mid-on but misjudges and edges the ball just short of Hashim Amla at cover. Any psychological edge SA may have gained for that they screw up and chuck away by having too many men inside the circle for the next ball. To add to the nonsense, Buttler is bowled from the free hit.

    Root rubs salt in the wound by pulling for six to deep mid-wicket. I used to be a bowler. Not a very good one. I know how this feels.

  18. Simon Mann
    BBC Test Match Special

    Jos Buttler of EnglandGetty Images

    "England's highest ODI score is the 408-9 they made against New Zealand at Edgbaston last summer. They should make that here." 

  19. 50 runs

    50 for Buttler

    Eng 202-2 (Buttler 53, Root 38)

    Jos ButtlerAP

    Buttler punches Morkel through leg for four more to go to a brilliant 34-ball half-century. But the bowler gets some revenge soon after with a short ball that fires into the batsman's body. No pain Jos, no pain. Don't even rub it lad. 

  20. Geoffrey Boycott
    Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

    "Normally they get out because they're not sure whether to hit it for four or six. Here he didn't know whether to defend or push a single."