A fantastic Joe Root performance, combined with a battling lower order display was not enough to win the series for England, as South Africa stole a one wicket victory thanks to some late fireworks from Chris Morris. We assess the performance of each England player.

Batsmen

Jason Roy (5): Another failure for Roy with the bat as he scored just six runs, holing out to Abbott with an ill-advised hook shot off the bowling of Kagiso Rabada. Roy also dropped a catch in the field to add to his dismal display.

Alex Hales (7): The England opener has enjoyed a fine series and scored another half century today, but will be disappointed that he lost concentration as soon as he hit the milestone, resulting in him being caught out off the bowling of Imran Tahir. Hales will have to take some of the blame for starting off an England collapse when they were well set at 80/1.

Joe Root (9): The game would have been over much sooner if it was not for another excellent display by the young lad from Sheffield. Scoring 109, Root was methodical in his approach and held the team together when everyone was falling around him. He would have hoped to hang around for another couple of overs to have added an extra 10-20 runs to the visitors' final score. Root also caught Rabada in the slip late in the South Africa innings.

Joe Root scored another fantastic century (AB)
Joe Root scored another fantastic century (AB)

Eoin Morgan (6): The captain played a poor shot to be dismissed for just two, fending at a wide delivery from Tahir. He was better in the field with some good attacking field placings and also took the catch of Wiese, but could not halt the late lower order onslaught.

Ben Stokes (6): A rare failure with the bat, Stokes was unfortunate to be dismissed by an excellent Amla catch for just two. He was good with the ball, dismissing the dangerous De Kock with an excellent delivery and later Wiese who was beginning to look dangerous. Stokes was economical but would have liked to have bowled better at the death.

Jos Buttler (5): With his team in trouble, Buttler played a poor shot that he should have avoided from an Kyle Abbott bouncer, edging the ball onto his helmet before it dropped back into the hands of the bowler. Buttler only scored one and was not presented with an opportunity to match that total with catches.

Moeen Ali (5): Despite watching a handful of players fall to poor shots before him, Ali could not resist flicking a ball off his hip that fell straight to Hashim Amla, resulting in a dismissal for just four. He was economical with the ball but failed to take a wicket from his nine overs.

Bowlers

Chris Woakes (7): Left out of the England World T20 squad, Woakes set about proving a point by putting on a record seventh wicket partnership of 95 at the Wanderers with Root before being dismissed for 33. With the ball he picked up just the one wicket, a fantastic delivery that bowled Du Plessis, but ran out AB De Villiers with a fantastic piece of fielding. 

Adil Rashid (6): Rashid came to the crease with one thought in his mind and through some great strokes and a bit of luck scored 39 runs off 33 balls. He took the wicket of JP Duminy but was loose with the ball and only took the wicket of Chris Morris after he had dropped the man of the match in the 42nd over, a play that proved to be pivotal in the outcome of the match.

Stuart Broad (5): A bad day at the office for the fast bowler, who only scored six runs and was extremely expensive with the ball. He took the early wicket of the dangerous Amla, but was a target for the South African batsmen, particularly Morris late on.

Reece Topley (7): The youngster continues to progress well, dismissing Behardien with a fantastic catch off his own bowling and sending Rabada back to the hutch for a golden duck. The fast bowler was also very economical from his eight overs.

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