ICC slaps hefty fine on South Africa following horrific 342-run defeat against England in 3rd ODI

South Africa had quite a bad day at the office against England on Sunday as the latter defeated them by a mammoth 342-run margin in the third and final ODI of the series. Notably, the Three Lions broke India's record of the largest ever win in ODI history with their victory over the Proteas in Southampton. Though Temba Bavuma & Co. ended up winning the series 2-1, the heavy loss in the final game must have been a big letdown for them.

However, the International Cricket Council (ICC) went on to pile on even more misery for South Africa as they fined the team five per cent of their match fees for maintaining a slow over-rate during the third ODI. The penalty was imposed by Javagal Srinath, who is a member of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees. The Proteas were found to be only an over short of the target and that is why, the fine wasn't that harsh.

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The charge was issued by on-field umpires Nitin Menon and Russell Warren, third umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, and fourth umpire Mike Burns. The South African team accepted to the charges and thus, no formal hearing was held. 

England batters' stunning performance

Coming to the match, South Africa had won the toss and elected to field first. This decision would turn out to be quite a bad one as the England batters absolutely dominated against the opposing bowlers. Opening duo of Jamie Smith and Ben Duckett provided the side with a strong start before Joe Root and Jacob Bethell shifted gears amd smacked the bowlers all around the Rose Bowl.

Both Root and Bethell would go on to hit remarkable hundreds before Jos Buttler helped the hosts in wrapping up their innings in style. The latter played a fiery knock of 62 runs from just 32 deliveries and Will Jacks also played a decent cameo of 19 runs as England went on to finish their 50 overs on 414/5. Though this total was indeed massive, it was expected that South Africa would up a good fight against them.

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However, the visitors completely capitulated under pressure and the England bowlers went on to dominate. Jofra Archer picked up four while Adil Rashid and Brydon Carse chipped in with three and two scalps respectively as the hosts bowled out the Proteas for only 72 runs. Bavuma & Co. never really got going with the bat and it only took 20.5 overs for the opposing bowlers to bundle them out. Though they may have won the series, it will be hard for South Affrica to get over this defeat.