Quinton de Kock sparkles before the rain as series ends in washout
South Africa 159 for 2 from 27.4 overs (de Kock 92*) vs England - match abandoned
Quinton de Kock was left stranded on 92 not out from 76 balls after an effortlessly fluent innings, but his hopes of an 18th ODI hundred were dashed as two heavy bands of rain swept across Headingley to wash out the third ODI and leave the series squared at one match apiece.
De Kock scored the first 69 of his runs from 55 balls in a 90-minute window prior to the first of two rain delays, then added a further 23 from 14 balls when play resumed briefly at 2.15pm. But 33 balls later, a heavier downpour swept in, shortly after his partner Aiden Markram had brought up exactly 1000 ODI runs in reaching 24 not out from 34 balls.
De Kock, in particular, had been in the mood to make good on his skipper's ambitions after taking first use of a dry run-laden deck. His chanceless knock contained 13 fours, almost exclusively the product of supreme timing and placement, not least an angled push through the covers off Reece Topley that perfectly bisected two fielders.
His delicate ramp through deep third off Sam Curran was no less impressive, as he stood tall to the short ball, and deflected it without fuss beyond the reach of the keeper, and though the near two-hour break in play came at an inopportune moment for de Kock, he resumed without fuss with three more fours: a brace of well-timed reverse sweeps off Adil Rashid and a lashed drive through the covers off Liam Livingstone.
De Kock's batting partners didn't find the going quite so good, as England's seamers in particular continued the good work they have shown all summer to keep their team competitive even while their batters have been struggling for their usual fluency.
David Willey prised the day's first opening to see off Janneman Malan, who had been limited to two runs from his first 13 balls before changing his approach with two off-side fours in three balls from Topley. That flurry didn't last, however, as Willey held a firm line across the right-hander from over the wicket, and Jason Roy accepted an open-faced drive at backward point.
Rassie van der Dussen, a centurion at Durham in South Africa's emphatic victory in the opening ODI, looked good once again for his 26 from 38 balls, with four fours including a dinky ramp over the keeper off Moeen Ali. But, after de Kock had cashed in on an unusually loose first over from Rashid, the legspinner tightened his line to the right-handed van der Dussen, and Jonny Bairstow at backward square leg clung onto a lofted sweep.
Both teams had named unchanged XIs following England's series-levelling win in another rain-affected contest at Old Trafford on Friday.