South Africa had eight balls in hand when Jonty Rhodes cut the winning runs to overhaul England's total of 223 for nine. Rhodes made 39 not out off 43 balls in which he timed the ball better than anyone.
This was only England's third defeat in seven Texaco series since Australia whitewashed them in 1993 and it suggested that in one and five-day cricket this season they are going to have to play above themselves to compete with a side who mix zealous commitment with smooth efficiency. South Africa seem just to hold the edge in key areas: Allan Donald is that much finer a fast bowler than Darren Gough; Rhodes even sharper in the field than Darren Maddy, who is no poor imitation; Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener both more consistently threatening than Chris Lewis, hard though he tried yesterday; and so on.
South Africa's performance in the field after Hansie Cronje had won the toss on a cool and murky morning was slick and minatory from start to finish. Nick Knight and Adam Hollioake were the only batsmen to score at the sort of rate normally required to win matches at the Oval and no one was able to use the pace and bounce in the pitch to manoeuvre the ball about as Graham Thorpe might have done. His back injury will keep him out of the remaining internationals at Old Trafford and Headingley this weekend.
Pollock bowled well with the new ball and, considering the amount of playing and missing by Knight and Alec Stewart, a start of 46 for no wicket after 12 overs was satisfactory. But the introduction of Donald was the catalyst for a change of pace all round. His first over produced 13 runs and Stewart's wicket as England's Test captain was bowled off his body by a ball which bounced back at him sharply.
Stewart has to rethink his recently adopted technique of playing inside the line of quick bowling. It worked for a time in the West Indies but against Donald and Pollock, both in command of an outswinger, in cannot be right.
Coming in against a fresh Donald was a severe test for Chris Adams and he needed some luck to get through it. Temperamentally he was in no way overawed but technically, with the ball moving about in the air and off the pitch, his free, hard-hitting game was not seen at its best. Cronje, varying his pace cleverly, made it no easier for him, Knight saw too little of the strike and at halfway England had managed only 97 for one.
For Adams the step up was vividly demonstrated when, finally getting a wide ball from Donald, he cut it fiercely only for Rhodes to make a phenomenal stop at backward point. Rhodes was every bit as brilliant as his reputation and Mark Boucher's occasional clumsiness behind the stumps was the only weak link.
Adams followed his best shot, a fierce on-drive from down the pitch, with an edge to the wicketkeeper but the Knight-Hussain partnership was starting to blossom when England's temporarily deposed vice-captain changed his mind about a quick onside single when he saw who the fielder was. Knight had committed himself and Hussain watched helplessly as Rhodes ran him out at the bowler's end.
Maddy went as soon as he had come, pulling at a short ball from Pat Symcox which was on him quicker than he expected and in the following over, the 39th, Hussain sliced a drive to allow Boucher the chance of an excellent diving catch, whereupon Mark Ealham was run out by Pollock risking a second run to third-man. Hollioake responded well, leaving his crease to take on Donald and Pollock and putting on a valuable 40 with Lewis in eight overs. He had scored at quicker than a run a ball when his drive to long-off was caught just inside the rope.
South Africa batted for a fair proportion of their innings under much lighter cloud than England, which made the home side's narrow failure to defend an inadequate total all the more creditable. Gary Kirsten edged Gough's second ball of the innings to first slip but Gerry Liebenberg hit some fine leg-side strokes and Kallis, making light of a nasty blow on the index finger of his bottom hand from a quick, lifting ball from Gough, laid the base for victory.
Hollioake used his bowlers logically apart from the introduction of Ashley Giles an over too early. Kallis lifted him twice over extra cover but Giles came back well to bowl Liebenberg as he swept. Daryll Cullinan was run out by a quick bit of work by Maddy from short third-man and had either Gough or Lewis, preferred as expected to Angus Fraser, been able to blast through Cronje early, England might well have taken control.
They still had a chance when Kallis paddled a low full toss to fine-leg and again when Cronje, after a shrewd acceleration, was miraculously caught by Hussain at mid-wicket off one pull-drive too many. Croft followed up by bowling Pollock through the gate first ball but Rhodes found in Klusener the confident and hard-hitting partner he needed.