Brendon McCullum says England have not become a bad team overnight after they were thrashed by South Africa in the first Test at Lord's.

England had started a new era under head coach McCullum and captain Ben Stokes by whitewashing New Zealand 3-0 and beating India in a rearranged match at Edgbaston to draw the series.

They were brought crashing back down to earth six weeks after that win over India, as the tourists hammered them by an innings and 12 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

England were thrashed inside three days, failing to live with a potent Proteas pace attack in a one-side match that saw them fold to 165 all out in the first innings and only 149 in the second.

McCullum says they must take the chastening defeat on the chin and hit back at Old Trafford next week.

"South Africa deserved the victory. We have a little bit of work to do, but you don't go from being a good team to a bad one overnight." the former New Zealand skipper told Sky Sports.

McCullum felt if anything England were too "timid' rather than overly aggressive.

He said: "It was the type of wicket that the boys reflected that you get in, then you got a cracking delivery from nowhere. I thought our approach was alright

"I think over the last four wins we've had there have been times where we have been behind then able to absorb it and turn it back on the opposition. We couldn't do that today.

"As we said at the outset, you have to buckle up for the ride. We'll come back stronger."

McCullum added: "The wicket was challenging at times and some of the balls were too good for us. If anything I thought some of the dismissals were a bit timid today. We won't overreact after this."

Alex Lees and Stuart Broad top scored with 35 apiece. The hostile pace quartet of Anrich Nortje (3-47), Kagiso Rabada (2-27), Marco Jansen (2-13) and Lungi Ngidi (1-15) tore through England after spinner Keshav Maharaj took 2-35 on Friday.

South Africa emphatically consigned England to a first Test defeat of their new era as Ben Stokes' side were thrashed by an innings and 12 runs inside three days at Lord's.

The potent Proteas pace attack did much of the damage once again, bowling a fragile England out for only 149 in 37.4 overs on Friday.

Dean Elgar's men dominated from start to finish in London, taking a first innings lead of 161 by posting 326 all out in reply to England's 165.

The tourists wrapped up the victory just over two-and-half days into the first of three Tests in the series to go 1-0 up, with the wickets shared between magnificent quicks Anrich Nortje (3-27), Kagiso Rabada (2-27), Marco Jansen (2-13) and Lungi Ngidi (1-15) after Keshav Maharaj took 2-27.

It was a chastening defeat for England, Stuart Broad and Alex Lees the joint top-scorers with 35 as they lost their perfect record since Stokes was appointed captain and Brendon McCullum head coach.

Broad took a brilliant one-handed catch for Matthew Potts to dismiss Rabada after South Africa resumed on 289-7, before claiming two wickets of his own to end the innings and leave Nortje unbeaten on 28.

Spinner Maharaj had England in trouble on 38-2 at lunch, dismissing the out-of-sorts Zak Crawley (13) leg before and trapping Ollie Pope (five) in front with the last ball of the morning session.

The Proteas pace attack again came to the fore in the afternoon session, Ngidi getting rid of Joe Root (six) before a fired up Nortje had Jonny Bairstow (18), Lees and Ben Foakes (nought) caught behind.

Broad came out swinging (35) as he put on 55 with Ben Stokes for the seventh wicket before he was deceived by a slower ball from Rabada and Jansen cleaned up Potts.

Stokes (20) picked out Maharaj in the deep knowing he was almost out of partners to become Rabada's second victim and Jansen bowled James Anderson with a quick yorker to put England out of their misery.

Proteas fire to blow England away

England had won all four Tests under their new coach and captain, whitewashing New Zealand 3-0 and beating India in a rearranged match at Edgbaston.

They were brought down to earth by a ruthless South Africa, who showed why they are top of the World Test Championship. Their fast bowlers fired on all cylinders as England were beaten by an innings at Lord's for only the second time in 52 Tests since June 1993.

Left-arm tweaker Maharaj was not required to bowl in the first innings, but he set the ball rolling in England's second innings before the quicks ripped through the hosts.

Crawley could pay the price

Opener Crawley has been backed by Stokes and McCullum, but he could pay the price for two more failures.

England must regroup before the second Test at Old Trafford, where Crawley may have to step aside. 

Stuart Broad reached 100 wickets in Lord's Tests, but it was emphatically South Africa's day at Lord's as England suffered a dose of their own medicine.

On day two of the first Test, South Africa clipped the English tail to turn an overnight 116-6 into 165 all out, before going on to reach 289-7 themselves by stumps.

South Africa's lead of 124 runs came about largely thanks to Sarel Erwee's 73 and a seventh-wicket flurry that came with a hint of 'Bazball' about it.

That is, of course, the nickname that has been afforded to England's vivacious batting approach since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum became the captain and coach partnership, and the ball repeatedly raced away to the boundary as South Africa showed off their own attacking flair.

On Friday, the hosts must step up, or they will soon slide 1-0 behind in this three-match series.

After Wednesday's play was curtailed by rain, South Africa should have seen the back of England anchorman Ollie Pope in the first over of Thursday's action, but Erwee made a laughably bad attempt to cling to an edge off Kagiso Rabada at first slip, juggling before the ball hit the deck.

Rabada had a stroke of luck in removing Pope soon afterwards, with an inside edge into his stumps accounting for the batsman, whose 73 provided the only substantial home resistance.

Broad also fell to Rabada, fooled by a slower ball, and after Jansen bowled Jack Leach, Rabada completed figures of 5-52 by pinning James Anderson lbw.

Captain Dean Elgar looked sharp with the bat at the outset of South Africa's reply and had reached 47 when Anderson struck in bizarre fashion, the ball trickling onto the stumps after hitting the Proteas skipper on the pad and arm.

Keegan Petersen and Aiden Markram fell for modest scores, the latter prised out by Leach after a snick to Ben Foakes from the first ball after tea.

Stokes then dismissed Erwee with a snorting delivery that might have hurt the batsman's chin had he not put the bat there in self-defence, the ball looping up for Foakes to take safely.

The home skipper had Rassie van der Dussen pegged lbw moments later, and Broad reached his Lord's wickets century when Foakes held on to remove Kyle Verreynne.

Stokes broke up the entertaining 72-run seventh-wicket alliance between Marco Jansen (41 not out) and Keshav Maharaj (41) as the light began to fade, but it was resoundingly South Africa's day.

Broad's 100 puts him in familiar company

Broad is the second member to enter the Lord's 100-wicket club, joining Anderson (117 wickets) in getting to three figures.

It was the sixth instance overall of a bowler taking 100 Test scalps at a single venue, with Sri Lanka great Muttiah Muralitharan responsible for three of those ton-up feats, with centuries of wickets in Kandy, Galle and Colombo.

Muralitharan's compatriot Rangana Herath also managed 100 Test wickets at Galle.

The West Indies will commence the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Men’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the period 2023-27 with a full home series against India in July and August 2023 followed by a white ball tour by England in December 2023. These form part of over 150 international matches that West Indies will play home and away within the new FTP.

Fans can now start to look forward to planning for home fixtures and away tours over the next five years, starting with India’s all-format tour in 2023 which will feature two Test matches as West Indies’ first home fixture in the new 2025 World Test Championship (WTC). India will also play three One-Day Internationals (ODIS) and five T20 Internationals (T20Is).

England will return to the West Indies in late 2023 for an eight-match white-ball series with three ODIs and five T20Is with a second white-ball tour of the Caribbean in 2024.

The new FTP features an ICC World tournament every year including the ICC T20 World Cup for the West Indies and USA in 2024 and two World Test Championships. West Indies will be playing India, South Africa and Bangladesh at home, and Australia, England and Pakistan away as part of the 2023-2025 World Test Championship. The full West Indies FTP can be found here https://bit.ly/3QSaIXi

The ICC FTP is a result of a collective effort of Full Members with ICC’s coordination and support. The FTP ensures a level of certainty of bilateral cricket fixtures across the three cricket formats. The exact dates and venues for each Series will be announced in due course by Cricket West Indies (CWI) following consultation with each ICC Member nation.

The West Indies have home fixtures against India, England (twice), South Africa, Bangladesh, Australia, Pakistan before the end of 2025 with an enticing schedule away fixtures around the world including defending the Richards-Botham Trophy in England in the summer of 2024.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) President, Ricky Skerritt, and CEO Johnny Grave welcomed the announcement of the new FTP.

“Cricket West Indies (CWI) is pleased that the new Men’s (2023-2027) and Women’s (2023-2025) FTP have been finally agreed. They provide some operational and financial certainty of our medium-term bilateral tours and matches across all formats, against all other Full Member nations. I want to thank our CEO Johnny Grave, and those several other Executives and Chairmen representing the various other Boards, who put many valuable hours into these negotiations,” Skerritt said.

“The major highlight during the period will be our joint hosting of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in June 2024, where we will partner with the USA to deliver an event of the highest quality on and off the field. The hosting of the Men’s T20 World Cup should help to inspire the next generation of young West Indians and re-ignite the cricketing passion of our fans in the Caribbean and around the world. Hopefully it will also provide a legacy and catalyst for growth of the sport within the USA. We are also pleased that we have once again been able to secure full windows for the Indian Premier League and Caribbean Premier League for our players as we try to find a balance between our international commitments and the significant earning opportunities for our players from Domestic Leagues,” Grave said.

South Africa took control on a rain-affected opening day of the first Test against England as their pace attack fired at Lord's.

Just 32 overs were possible on Wednesday, yet there was enough time for the Proteas to reduce Ben Stokes' side to 116-6.

Anrich Nortje claimed 3-43 and the fit-again Kagiso Rabada took 2-36 in a ruthless display from the fast bowlers before the heavens opened in London.

Under-pressure opener Zak Crawley fell for only nine, with Alex Lees the first man to depart for five as Rabada struck twice early on his return from injury.

Joe Root was unable to provide any respite as he departed leg before to Marco Jansen (1-18) before Jonny Bairstow was clean bowled for a duck by Nortje.

Stokes (20) and Ollie Pope (61 not out) added 45 runs for the fifth wicket, but the captain was squared up by Nortje's final ball of the morning session and caught at third slip by Keegan Petersen.

Having lost five wickets prior to lunch, Ben Foakes became Nortje's third victim when he was cleaned up by a ripper and rain forced the end of play two deliveries later.

To cover the loss of overs on day one of the first Test in the three-match series, the remaining four days will now see 98 overs per day, with dry weather forecast.

England blown away by Proteas pace attack

The wicket of Foakes was Nortje's 50th in Test cricket in his 13th match, his raw pace proving far too hot for England's batters to handle.

Rabada was also hugely impressive a dominant display from the tourists and he is now five wickets away from 250 for South Africa.

Pope provides some hope

England have won their past four Tests, making this their best-such run since a five-match streak in 2018, but they already have their work cut out after a poor start at Lord's.

Pope provided the only positive with that his eighth Test half-century, though even then he had the fortune of being dropped by Peterson on 45.

Dean Elgar is determined to "throw a bit more respect into the badge" when South Africa face "beatable" England in a three-match Test series.

The Proteas have won three and drawn one of their past four series in the longest format, including a 2-1 victory over India.

South Africa are also sitting pretty at the top of the World Test Championship table and are third in the rankings ahead of an opening match against Ben Stokes' side that starts at Lord's on Wednesday.

England have enjoyed a dream start to a new era with Stokes as captain and Brendon McCullum head coach, whitewashing New Zealand 3-0 and beating India in a rearranged Test to draw the series 2-2.

Yet visiting captain Elgar is backing the tourists to maintain the momentum and bring England back down to earth.

The opening batter said: "I don't play to lose. I absolutely despise losing. And if we play an average brand [of cricket], or we're not putting our best foot forward, and we don't have results going our way, then that affects me quite a bit.

"This is a massive series for all of us. I think we've got 17 players and it's massive for all 17 of us to go out there, play a brand of cricket that appeals to South Africans and ultimately gives us the best chance of winning in England. We've seen it happen in the past before, so we know it can be done."

Elgar says South Africa will not cross the line with the verbals, but expects words to be exchanged in the middle.

"In the heat of battle, there's always something that comes out," he said. "Let's put it that way. I just want to play three really, really hard Test matches and go out there and put the badge on the line and throw a bit more respect into the badge."

He added: "We played against the best in the world last year [India, who were top of the rankings at the time], and I think we did things that we didn't quite expect to do at that time.

"So the standard that we've set and the bar that we've raised since last year has happened pretty naturally just out of us doing good things on the field again.

"It's gonna be a tough series, no doubt. They are a proud cricketing nation and I respect that. But I know they are definitely beatable. I didn't come here to play second fiddle. I came here to win a series."

South Africa paceman Duanne Olivier has been ruled out of the Test series against England due to a hip injury.

The quick sustained a grade two right hip flexor muscle tear during the Proteas' crushing innings-and-56-run defeat to the England Lions at Canterbury.

South Africa have not called up a replacement ahead of a three-match series that starts at Lord's on Wednesday.

"Duanne presented with significant discomfort involving his right hip flexor muscle at the close of play on day three of the four-day tour match," team doctor Hashendra Ramjee said.

"After clinical assessment, he was referred for an MRI scan which revealed a grade two tear involving the right pectineus muscle.

"Due to the extent of the injury, he has been ruled out of the three-match Test series against England and will return home where he will commence his rehabilitation with the Gauteng Central Lions medical team."

The tourists also have a doubt over fellow quick Kagiso Rabada, who has been sidelined by an ankle injury.

They are not short of pace options, though, with Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Glenton Stuurman and Lutho Sipamla in the squad.

Fans' wait for the World Cup has, of course, been a little longer than normal this time around – ordinarily the tournament would've already been completed.

Nevertheless, the big kick-off is closing in with Qatar 2022 now just 100 days away – we're into the final straight!

As with any major tournament, predicting a winner in the build-up is just a natural part of being a football fan, even if it can often be a fool's errand.

But considering how integral statistics are to football these days, using data might just give you the edge, and that's where Stats Perform come in.

Our Artificial Intelligence team have used Opta's extensive data reserves to quantify each team's chances of winning the entire tournament.

Every match has been run through the Stats Perform World Cup prediction model to calculate the estimated probability of the outcome (win, draw or loss). This uses odds from betting markets and Stats Perform team rankings, which are based on historical and recent performances.

It takes into consideration the strength of each team's opponents as well as the difficulty of their respective paths to the final, plus the make-up of the groups and any relevant seedings heading into the knockouts.

Then, the rest of the tournament is simulated 40,000 times and analysed, providing the AI team with a percentage for each nation, showing the probability of them ultimately lifting the trophy at the Lusail Stadium on December 18.

Let's check out the results…

FAVOURITES: France (17.9 per cent)

Suspend your disbelief! Yes, reigning champions France have the greatest probability of winning the World Cup this year, with our model giving them an almost 18-per cent chance of clinching a third title.

But let's not overlook how remarkable an achievement that would be. No team has retained the World Cup since Brazil in 1962, and the only other occasion of that happening was in the 1930s when Italy won it back-to-back.

France were the favourites heading into Euro 2020 but were ultimately disappointing – they'll need to do significantly better here otherwise their fate could be sealed by the dreaded winners' curse.

Each of the past four European winners of the World Cup have been eliminated in the group stages, a trend that began with Les Bleus in 2002.

2. Brazil (15.7 per cent)

Another unsurprising entry. That's right, record winners Brazil come in at second in terms of likelihood of winning the World Cup.

Tite's side qualified with ease and clearly have an extremely talented group of players available to them – the problem is getting them all on the pitch at one time while retaining a cohesive and balanced shape.

If Tite can find the magic formula at the World Cup this time, at the very least you'd expect them to get beyond the quarter-finals, the stage they crashed out to Belgium four years ago in Kazan.

Failure, however, will mean Brazil's World Cup drought will stretch to 24 years by the time the 2026 edition comes around, and that would make it their joint-longest barren run in the competition since claiming their first title in 1958.

3. Spain (11.5 per cent)

La Roja aren't the force they were as recently as 10 years ago, when they won a third successive major international tournament with victory at Euro 2012.

However, Luis Enrique has turned them into a side that is easy on the eye and capable of carving open the best teams – their main issue in recent years has been finding a reliable striker, and that'll likely be what determines how far they get in Qatar.

Either way, we can surely expect a better showing than they managed in Russia, where they were hindered by the sacking of coach Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the World Cup as a result of accepting a post-tournament role at Real Madrid.

4. England (8.0 per cent)

The Three Lions almost won their first major international trophy since 1966 last year at Euro 2020, only to fall at the final hurdle against Italy.

Either way, few can deny it was a sign of progress: they reached the Russia 2018 semi-finals, the final at Euro 2020, so surely Qatar 2022 is theirs already?

Gareth Southgate has made England an effective tournament side, even if doubts remain over his ability to impose a style of play that sees the Three Lions take the initiative against the biggest teams.

Similarly, their performances in the first round of Nations League fixtures in June left a lot to be desired, but that won't stop expectations from soaring in Qatar.

5. Belgium (7.9 per cent)

Squeezing into the top five ahead of the Netherlands (7.7 per cent) are Belgium, who reached the semi-finals four years ago before being eliminated by eventual winners France.

It's fair to say this is likely to be the last opportunity for the Red Devils' so-called 'golden generation' to truly leave its mark on a major tournament – in fact, many original members of that Belgium generation have already retired.

While success for Roberto Martinez's side looks unlikely, they are a match for any team on their day, and our probability score recognises they are by no means out of contention.

THE REST OF THE FIELD

Netherlands and Germany (7.2) are hard on Belgium's heels in our predictor table, though in both cases fans might feel their squads have more to offer than their neighbours.

Both teams have solid blends of experience and youthful exuberance, while the two coaches have vast experience – Louis van Gaal needs no introduction, while Hansi Flick has been involved in the Germany setup for much of his coaching career.

But the teams many will be looking out for because of certain individuals are Argentina (6.5 per cent) and Portugal (5.1 per cent).

They are the only other two to be given more than a 2.3 per cent chance of World Cup success, and given the presence of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, they cannot be discounted.

Argentina have rebuilt since a somewhat shambolic campaign in Russia, with Lionel Scaloni inspiring La Albiceleste to their first Copa America in 28 years in 2021.

Messi was central to their triumph in that tournament, and now he's got the proverbial monkey off his back, there's hope Argentina could produce a respectable showing.

With Ronaldo 37 and Messi 35, it's unlikely either will play another World Cup. Given the tournament is synonymous with those generally regarded as the best ever – Pele and Diego Maradona – they will be desperate to crown their respective careers.

This is it.

10. Croatia (2.3 per cent)
11. Denmark (2.0 per cent)
12. Uruguay (1.5 per cent)
13. Mexico (1.4 per cent)
14. Switzerland (1.0 per cent)
15. Poland (0.8 per cent)
16. Iran (0.6 per cent)
17. Japan (0.5 per cent)
18. United States (0.5 per cent)
19. Wales (0.4 per cent)
20. Qatar (0.4 per cent)
21. South Korea (0.4 per cent)
22. Serbia (0.2 per cent)
23. Senegal (0.2 per cent)
24. Ecuador (0.2 per cent)
25. Australia (0.1 per cent)
26. Ghana (

Jamaica's women 4x400m relay team got an unexpected surprise in the final track event at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday when England's team that crossed the line first in 3:25.83 was disqualified for a lane infringement. They have subsequently filed an appeal.

This means Jamaica's team comprised of 400m hurdles silver medallist Shian Salmon, Junelle Bromfield, Roneisha McGregor and Natoya Goule that ran 3:26.93 will leave Birmingham as 4x400m runners-up.

The development also means Canada has now been crowned 2022 Commonwealth Games champions. They had finished second in 3:25.84. Scotland finished fourth in a season-best of 3:30.15 but has been upgraded to the bronze medal.

Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica won sprint relay medals on Sunday with silver and bronze medals, respectively, at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

Despite the absence of 200m champion Jereem Richards Trinidad and Tobago’s team of Jerod Elcock, Eric Harrison Jr, Kion Benjamin Hislop and Kyle Greaux raced to a season-best 38.70 to claim second place behind England that ran a season-best 38.35 for the gold medal.

Nigeria ran 38.81 for the bronze.

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s women owe a debt of gratitude to sprint-double champion Elaine Thompson-Herah for their bronze medal as Kemba Nelson, Remona Burchell and Natalliah Whyte were unable to put Jamaica in contention for a medal over the first three legs.

However, at the final exchange with Jamaica in fifth, the fastest woman alive, stormed down the home stretch to snatch the bronze medal from Australia.

Jamaica clocked a relatively pedestrian 43.08, well behind England who ran a season-best 42.41 for the silver and winners Nigeria, who stormed to a new area record of 42.10.

Australia clocked 43.16 for fourth.

England international Moeen Ali does not believe the hectic cricket schedule is sustainable.

Moeen, who has previously filled in as England's captain in T20Is and was named as vice-captain for the tour of West Indies earlier this year, retired from Test cricket in 2021.

The 35-year-old wanted to focus on the limited-overs formats, and more players seem to be faced with the decision of sacrificing one for the other.

In part, this has been put down to the tight and congested nature of the cricketing calendar, with tours scheduled between high-profile tournaments such as the Indian Premier League, the Big Bash League and, in England, The Hundred. There is also the small matter of another T20 World Cup coming up later this year in Australia.

England's new Test captain Ben Stokes has made a similar decision, giving up white-ball cricket to focus on the long format, while he skipped The Hundred alongside team-mate Jonny Bairstow this year.

"At the moment it's not sustainable," Moeen told reporters when asked about his concerns over the schedule.

Moeen also believes that 50-over matches are most vulnerable.

"Something has to be done because I fear losing the 50-over format in a couple of years because it's almost like the long, boring one," said the all-rounder, who is the captain of Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred.

"There's no importance given to it at the moment.

"International cricket in all three formats is by far the best cricket to play, but I do worry there are so many tournaments out there that players are retiring more now, and you'll see more retiring soon, because of overlapping schedules."

England have recalled Ollie Robinson for their upcoming Test series against South Africa.

Robinson has dealt with a series of ailments since last playing for the Test team in the Ashes in January.

The seamer was beset by back spasms at the start of the English summer and later contracted coronavirus, also dealing with dental issues.

Now, though, Robinson will return to a group transformed by the leadership of new coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.

Robinson was reportedly set to play only for the Lions team, before an injury to Jamie Overton created a space in the main team.

He is part of a 14-man group, which also includes Matthew Potts, a beneficiary of Robinson's absence earlier in the year.

Although Potts keeps his place, Sam Billings has made way with Ben Foakes' return from COVID-19.

England will play three Tests against South Africa, although this initial squad was confirmed only for the two August matches.

England Test squad to play South Africa:

Ben Stokes (Durham, captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Jack Leach (Somerset), Alex Lees (Durham), Craig Overton (Somerset), Matthew Potts (Durham), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Joe Root (Yorkshire).

Matthew Mott and Jos Buttler have agreed England's Twenty20 International series defeat to South Africa was "a line in the sand moment".

Mott was recently appointed England's new limited-overs head coach, with Buttler newly installed as white-ball skipper.

But the pair have not enjoyed the sort of strong start seen in the Test arena under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes.

England lost ODI and T20I series' to India, both 2-1, before facing South Africa.

A three-match ODI series was drawn, but Buttler's men then let slip a 1-0 lead in the T20Is to lose again.

England looked to be on the right path with their opening 41-run win, only for subsequent reverses by 58 and 90 runs to prompt serious concern.

Following that latest dismal defeat, Mott was not shying away from the need for vast improvement.

"I've just spoken to Jos very briefly, and this is a line in the sand moment for the team," the coach told Sky Sports.

He added: "We were down on confidence with bat and ball. It was disappointing.

"I thought we put ourselves in a good position to win the series, and we'll have take a lot out of that game."

This sequence of underwhelming results comes ahead of a T20 World Cup at the end of the year, too.

"It's been a bit of a struggle," Mott told BBC Sport. "We've had ups and downs throughout the summer.

"We've played two great teams and come out second both times, so we're disappointed."

South Africa clinched a 2-1 Twenty20 International series win over England in dominant fashion with a 90-run victory at the Ageas Bowl.

Despite losing Quinton de Kock for a duck in the first over of the decider in Southampton on Sunday, the Proteas posted an imposing 191-5 as Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram thrived with the bat.

After a 55-run stand with Rilee Rossouw, who fired 31 off 18 balls, Hendricks (70) and Markram (51 not out) combined for a key 87-run third-wicket partnership.

Markram had support late in the innings from captain David Miller - who hit 22 off just nine balls - and the pair at one point combining for five fours in the space of six deliveries.

Miller struck South Africa's sole six and Tristan Stubbs hit two fours in the final over to push South Africa beyond 190, which England never threatened to reach after Jos Buttler (14) and Jason Roy (17) had both departed during the powerplay.

Tabraiz Shamsi (5-24) was the star of the show as the spinner ensured the wickets continue to tumble around Jonny Bairstow, who was the last man to fall on 27 when he slog-swept Keshav Maharaj to deep midwicket.

Buttler still waiting for series win

England's new white-ball skipper Buttler remains without a win from his first four series since taking the job, this defeat following a drawn ODI series with South Africa and 2-1 losses to India in both limited-overs formats. The manner of Sunday's defeat suggests he and his side have a long way to go if they are to contend at the T20 World Cup this year.

Shamsi puts England in a spin

Shamsi's five-for was the first of his T20I career. Both of his previous four-wicket hauls in the format came last year against Ireland and Pakistan. The Proteas have now won four of their past five T20I series, continuing their fine form in England after a 2-2 draw with India earlier in the year.

Rilee Rossouw smashed his way to a career-best T20 International score as South Africa pushed on from a blistering start to beat England by 58 runs and level their three-match series.

The Somerset top-order batsman posted an unbeaten 96 not out off 55 balls after arriving at 39-1 to steer the tourists to a first innings total of 207-3 at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

That proved to be more than enough to see off the hosts, who slumped to a middle-order collapse in response for 149 all out despite a defiant sixth-wicket stand between Jonny Bairstow (30) and Liam Livingstone (18).

The result means the two sides will head to the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Sunday for a winner-takes-all encounter, after the pair were forced to a 1-1 draw in their ODI series by rain at Headingley.

A lively opening stand between skipper-wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks sparked early fireworks before the former guided Moeen Ali to Jason Roy for 15, paving the way for Rossouw's arrival.

The left-hander, who returned from a six-year T20I exodus at Bristol on Wednesday, managed only four the night before but rolled out a masterfully modulated performance to guide his side through to the interval.

Stands of 73, 31 and 64 with Hendricks (53), Heinrich Klaasen (19) and Tristan Stubbs (15 not out) helped the Proteas to a double-century plus total, with the latter two in particular offering solid supporting performances.

England conjured an element of deja vu in their immediate response, with captain Jos Buttler holing out to Hendricks off the back of a rapid-fire 29 before Dawid Malan (5) and Jason Roy (20) fell to reduce them to 77-3.

The further dismissals of Ali (28) and Sam Curran (2) in quick succession left them at 92-5, staring down the barrel of a hefty defeat, before Bairstow and Livingstone combined for a morale-boosting 36.

But the former's dismissal through a superb catch from Lungi Ngidi off Kagiso Rabada effectively checked any momentum to leave the hosts at 128-6, and the latter's exit less than an over later sparked a tail-end collapse to tee up an intriguing finale this weekend.

Rossouw seizes second chance

Once the hottest prospect in South African cricket the better part of a decade ago, with a first-class top score of 319 posted as a teenager, Rossouw effectively seemed to end his international career in 2017 when he penned a Kolpak contract with Hampshire.

But injury to white-ball skipper Temba Bavuma has offered him an unlikely shot at Proteas redemption, and though his brief four in Wednesday's opening match was more anticlimactic, this proved a masterful display that could well give him a way back into the setup on a regular basis.

Bairstow keeps form afloat as Tests loom

Few players have showcased quite such a rich vein of form of late than Bairstow in Test cricket, and he carried that Midas touch over into the first T20I on Wednesday with a fluidly assured 90 to guide England to victory.

While the hosts fell considerably shorter a day later this time around, Bairstow once again proved their top scorer with a more modest 30, a figure that nevertheless showcases his ability to keep grinding out runs as he prepares to return to the long-form game against the tourists next month.