SA Openers Amla and De Kock trump Root ton

9 Feb 2016 | Cricket
South Africa produced a record-breaking batting display in Centurion to beat England by seven wickets and keep the one-day international series alive.
The Proteas openers Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla made a record chase at SuperSport Park look easy with a 239-run stand that will live long in the memory.
Joe Root's ODI-best seventh century had helped England post 318 for eight - a total that appeared above par on a pitch that showed some signs of being two-paced.
But any gremlins in the surface were not apparent once the lights came on as De Kock and Amla both reached three figures and combined in a record ODI opening partnership against England.
De Kock was the main aggressor as he extended his golden run in one-day cricket to four centuries in his past six innings. The 23-year-old also became the youngest player to reach 10 ODI tons, breaking the record set by India skipper Virat Kohli, and have come from just 55 matches.
Amla maintained his own century streak at Centurion - he has now reached three figures in his past three ODI visits - and only fell with eight runs still required.
South Africa skipper AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis completed victory with 22 balls to spare.
It was a clinical performance with the series up for grabs and England, who still hold the upper hand after wins in Bloemfontein and Port Elizaeth, will make the short journey south for Friday's fourth match at the Wanderers in Johannesburg knowing they still have work to do.

Skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and after electing to bat saw another assured performance which centred around Root's career-best 125 from 113 balls.
Alex Hales passed 50 for the third time in the series while Ben Stokes' 33-ball half-century at the back end meant England had history on their side as they prepared to defend their score.
No international team ever having chased down a score over 300 at SuperSport Park, but that record was in jeopardy once De Kock started to hit top gear.
The left-hander struck an unbeaten century in the first match, before rain halted him, and while the storm clouds threatened on the Highveld they did not stop De Kock this time.
England too could not find a way to quell his presence, the wicketkeeper-batsman particularly harsh on anything pitch short, as he free strokeplay took him to a century from 96 balls.
With Amla happy to gather runs at the opther end De Kock kept accelerating until he was finally well caught by Root at mid-off from Adil Rashid's leg-spin.
South Africa still needed 80 at that point but with Amla at the helm of the pursuit they never displayed any nerves as the right-hander eased to his 22nd ODI century.

He fell within sight of victory, slashing at a Chris Jordan wide delivery, but that only allowed the Centurion crowd to again get to their feet and show him their appreciation.
The crowd had been similarly enertained by Root as he showed his abilioty to adapt to conditions and make big runs.
The Yorkshireman shared a 125-run stand with Hales - after Jason Roy ran himself out taking on Morne Mokel's arm - as they found fluency on a pitch that was not straightforward.
Root was marginlly quicker in getting to fifty, reaching the mark from 53 balls, and then lost hales when he top-edged a Kagiso Rabada short ball to Morkel.
Jos Buttler was elevated to four again but this time he steered his first delivery to short fine-leg before Morgan found life tough on the wicket before chipping a catch to midwicket.
Root continued to cruise along and with Stokes hitting his groove they added 82 in quick time before a mix-up.
A Root drive clattered into the stumps at the non-striker's end and with Stokes more concerned with staying in his crease he reacted too late to the possibility of a single before 'yes' and 'nos' were exchanged.
England lost momentum at the end as four wickets went down for 22 runs, although it hardly mattered after De Kock and Amla got going later on.

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