JACOB Bethell described his first professional century as ‘addictive’.
Warwickshire batter Bethell hit 110 from 82 balls in a record 342-run win in against South Africa inb the third one-day international in Southampton.
With the series gone, Bethell 21, long tipped for a huge future despite his limited county experience, delivered on all of his promise in England’s cruise to 414 five.
Jofra Archer then ripped through the South Africa batting as England thrashed the Proteas.
Left-hander Bethell put on 182 with Joe Root, who himself made a 96-ball 100, to lay a platform before Jos Buttler took on the scoring with a destructive 62 not out from 32 balls.
It was England’s highest total in One Day Internationals for three years -and their best effort at home since 2018 – while Bethell’s ton, in his 33rd international innings, made him England’s second-youngest ODI centurion after David Gower.
Bethell told BBC Test Match Special: “It felt pretty good. A few emotions came pouring through, but it feels unbelievable and to do it, and in a convincing win like that, it’s even more important.
“I wouldn’t say relief, I don’t listen to what people say to be honest. It was nothing to do with other people – I wanted it for myself and the team. It was a great feeling, an addictive feeling and hopefully there’s more to come.”
Bethell had earlier spoke about his stop-start season to Sky Sports and said: “If I’m honest, when I wasn’t playing in those Tests, I should probably have played a bit more in domestic cricket.
”But I’ll take that on and learn from it. I’ve got a lot of cricket ahead now so maybe that gap was quite nice for me.”
South Africa were well below the standards set in their impressive wins at Headingley and Lord’s which had already secured the series with a game to spare.
They dropped Bethell on 44, gave away 19 wides and were 72-9 in 20.5 overs when the players shook hands with Temba Bavuma unable to bat – England’s winning margin the largest in the history of men’s ODIs in terms of runs.
Archer took four wickets in a fast and hostile new-ball spell, reducing the Proteas to 7-4 and 24-6 from which they never recovered. He finished with 4-18 and Adil Rashid 3-13.
Though the series was already decieded, this was a morale-boosting win for England after a difficult run in the 50-over format.
The same sides now play a three-match T20 series starting on Wednesday in Cardiff.
• Additional reporting, BBC Cricket
