England suffer chastening defeat against South Africa after dramatic top-order collapse

England were bowled out for 153 in only 31.1 overs, before the tourists sealed victory in the third and final Royal London Series match

South Africa celebrate victory in the final Royal London Series match (Getty)

England will hope any further nightmare performances are out of their system ahead of the start of the Champions Trophy following this chastening defeat by South Africa.

This may have been a dead rubber given the 2-0 lead Eoin Morgan’s team established in the first two matches of the series, but it was not the way England, who were on a run of eight successive ODI victories, wanted to warm-up for a tournament they are supposed to be the favourites to win.

South Africa, the world’s No1 team, chased down their target of 154 in 28.5 overs, Hashim Amla’s 55 setting them on their way before a wobble midway through the chase slowed their progress.

England still claimed series victory - despite Monday's defeat (Getty)

Yet things might have been immeasurably worse for England given they were 20 for six following a breathless first half-hour of this contest when Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell tore their much-vaunted batting line-up to shreds.

In the end, a total of 153 was achieved thanks largely to Jonny Bairstow, who further pressed his claims for a place in England’s XI with a third half-century in four ODI innings, and a belligerent unbeaten 37 from Toby Roland-Jones on his international debut.

Roland-Jones was one of four changes for the hosts, whose build-up to their opening Champions Trophy match against Bangladesh on Thursday has been disrupted by injuries to three key players in Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali.

That trio are nursing knee, thigh and groin injuries respectively.

Hashim Amla set South Africa on their way (Getty)

Allied to this morale-denting defeat, the uncertainty over three of the first-choice XI so close to the tournament is a concern for England.

The temptation between now and Thursday might be to panic. That is the usual course of action England take on the eve of major tournaments.

Yet after two years of stunning progress in white-ball cricket, it would be foolhardy to make any major changes now even if there are questions over Jason Roy’s place at the top of the order.

The Surrey batsman started the rot here, edging the fifth ball of the match from Rabada to Hashim Amla at slip. Roy’s run of recent ODI scores read: 4, 8, 1, 20, 0, 17.

Bairstow’s form is creating more pressure on Roy, especially as England considered using the Yorkshireman as an opener at the start of the one-day tour of the Caribbean in February when Alex Hales was injured.

Toby Roland-Jones scored 37 on his international debut (Getty)

He also hit 174 in a 50-over match earlier this month opening for Yorkshire against Durham.

However, to drop Roy now, even if Bairstow’s case for inclusion is strong, would be a mistake.

England must keep calm and view this team performance as a one-off blip.

Things might have been far worse for the hosts considering they were six down inside the first five overs.

At that stage, with Rabada having figures of four for 18 and Parnell dismissing Joe Root and Morgan, England looked like they might not even make 86 – their lowest ODI total, posted against Australia at Old Trafford in 2001.

Jonny Bairstow makes his way to the pavilion after being dismissed (Getty)

But a seventh-wicket stand of 62 between Bairstow and David Willey took their team out of the territory of calamity and back into the realms of regulation humiliation.

That England found themselves in such a predicament was down to a combination of fine bowling, brainless batting and outstanding fielding.

Unlike Saturday’s second ODI in Southampton, when South Africa dropped six catches during a two-run defeat, every chance was taken here.

Eight of the English wickets to fall were caught, with four of the first five from behind the wicket as Rabada and Parnell executed a demanding length in overcast conditions.

Root, trapped lbw by Parnell, couldn’t have done much about his dismissal. The same could not be said about the other five batsmen who perished during a crazy first 30 minutes.

Of those, Hales, Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid were all caught behind square during a chaotic fifth over, brilliantly bowled by Rabada.

England were swept aside by the Proteas (Getty)

Thereafter Bairstow and Willey steadied things before the latter slapped Parnell to cover on 26, his highest ODI score.

That brought Roland-Jones to the crease with England on 82 for seven and the Middlesex fast bowler raced onto 25 from 18 balls to help the total past 100.

But Bairstow, stumped charging down the wicket on 51, Jake Ball and Steven Finn fell to spinner Keshav Maharaj as the innings was wrapped up in 31 overs.

South Africa were cruising on 95 without loss in the 15th over of their chase before Amla became Roland-Jones’ first international wicket and Jake Ball dismissed Quinton De Kock and Faf Du Plessis in quick succession.

England’s bowlers kept up the pressure under leaden skies to slow their opponent’s progress significantly. Yet South Africa ultimately still coasted home thanks to an unbeaten 44-run stand between JP Duminy and captain AB De Villiers.