A thrilling bowling performance helped England level the one-day international series against South Africa with an emphatic 118-run win in a rain-affected game at Emirates Old Trafford.
Defending 201 in 29 overs, a devastating new-ball burst reduced South Africa to 6-4 inside four overs before they were eventually bowled out for 83.
Reece Topley took two wickets in the third before David Willey dismissed Quinton de Kock to start the fourth and Jos Buttler's sensational fielding ran out Aiden Markram before he had faced a ball.
Sam Curran bowled David Miller before England's spin duo of Adil Rashid (3-29) and Moeen Ali (2-22) combined to bowl South Africa out in just 20.4 overs.
After a delay of almost four hours, England made 201 before being bowled out with five balls to go after being put into bat by the tourists.
Liam Livingstone top-scored with 38, including hitting three successive sixes off Anrich Nortje, while Curran smashed a brutal 18-ball 35.
It was the fifth game in a row England failed to bat their overs and it felt like their total could lead to a third successive defeat for the first time since February 2016.
But instead they set up a series decider at Headingley on Sunday (11:00 BST).
After five defeats in seven games since becoming a partnership, captain Buttler and new head coach Matthew Mott went into the match needing a positive result to silence some of the outside noise.
Their total looked no more than par, but four wickets fell in a 10-ball spell with no runs added, to effectively win the game.
Topley, who had taken 12 wickets in his previous three games, had Janneman Malan caught at mid-on, before Rassie van der Dussen strangled down the leg-side.
De Kock's wicket was the big one, before Buttler swooped in and superbly gathered and under-hand flicked towards the stumps, with Markram a yard short of his ground.
At that point England's biggest threat was the weather as rain returned, but Buttler cleverly turned to his spinners and they were able to rip through them.
Moeen deceived Heinrich Klaasen to have him stumped, before Rashid claimed Keshav Maharaj, Dwaine Pretorius and Lungi Ngidi as England raced through overs to get to the 20 overs required to constitute a game.
Victory came when Nortje hit Moeen to long-on and South Africa were dismissed for their second-lowest total in ODI cricket to give England a morale-boosting win.
England have not become a bad side overnight, but a lack of form, and perhaps new tactics and opinions, has left them looking a shadow of the side that has dominated 50-over cricket in recent years.
Source: BBC
BDST: 1341 HRS, JUL 23, 2022
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