On Friday, the Proteas beat the world champions by 27 runs, while on Sunday, the hosts claimed the series win in Bloemfontein with a five-wicket victory.

The series will conclude in Kimberley tomorrow, with South Africa seeking a series whitewash and England wanting to break their five-match losing streak.

For the English, Harry Brook was outstanding with the bat, scoring 80 runs in the second ODI, while Sam Curran bowled well in the middle overs despite finishing with figures of 1/60 in 10 overs.

Buttler, who scored 94 not out, said that despite the defeats it’s by no means a matter of panic-stations yet and there were positives to take from their performance at the Mangaung Oval.

"It was an entertaining game of cricket, although obviously not the result we wanted, but you have to give credit to South Africa and the way they batted," said the England skipper.

"We’d prefer to be winning, but we’re building towards a World Cup, and, like on Friday, there were plenty of good things for us.

"Harry Brook has confirmed what I think we already knew, while Olly Stone bowled really well in the middle overs.

"But even experienced players like me struggle to get back into the rhythm of the 50-over game after so much T20 cricket and we’ll improve as we play more games."

Play in Kimberley is scheduled to get underway at 13:00 on Wednesday afternoon.

Join OFM in backing Northern Cape Cricket by getting your tickets for Wednesday’s 3rd and final game in Kimberley.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek