England, thanks to two brilliant centuries from Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan, helped England post 346/7 in Kimberley.

The Proteas summed up the Kimberley conditions and opted to bowl first. The talk about the pitch was that it will get better to bat on as the day goes on.

There was clear swing with the new ball and Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi exploited it to perfection. The most impressive part about the early bowling is that they made strike play tough for the English, racking up a lot of dot balls. The uneven bounce also aided the opening bowlers.

Ngidi took the early wickets. He found good movement and bounce and this saw him dismiss Jason Roy, Ben Duckett and Harry Brook. England were reduced to 14-3. Only one boundary was scored during this period, a drive through the covers by Brook.

After the powerplay, England was 20-3.

It’s the first time in ODIs that Buttler went 13 balls without scoring. His first runs came with a 4 on the 14th ball of his innings.

As the pitch deteriorated, England got back into the game. Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler strung together a 232 off 211 balls.

Malan was the first to fall at the two, 118 off 114 balls. England will be restricted to 246.

Moeen Ali did a great job joining his skipper with the onslaught, scoring four sixes and two fours for his 41off 23 balls. He did his job as England impressively passed the 300-run mark.

Buttler also managed a century, before he was dismissed, his 131 off 127 balls crucial to his side’s cause.

England managed to keep edging forward, finishing with a total of 346/7.

Ngidi, although expensive in the middle overs, finished with 4/62.