Jacob Bethell felt “goosebumps” when he reached the first century of his career – a calling card that set England up for the biggest victory in ODI history.
Bethell hit 110 as he and fellow centurion Joe Root put England on course for a massive total of 414 for five against South Africa in Southampton.
The weight of scoreboard pressure, allied to a four-wicket new-ball burst from Jofra Archer, then suffocated the Proteas as their innings subsided for 72.
A winning margin of 342 stretched the existing world record by 25 runs and extended England’s previous best by exactly 100.
But perhaps the most important element of all was Bethell’s maiden professional hundred and the end of a four-year wait that had sat awkwardly with his positioning as the rising star of the English game.
England’s belief in Bethell has seemed unshakeable and he will soon become the country’s youngest ever captain on the T20 trip to Ireland, but it was a major personal milestone.
“It was a great feeling. There was a few emotions pouring through,” he said. “It’s just goosebumps to be honest, as soon as I laced it in the gap.
“It couldn’t have hit more in the middle of my bat and it just raced to the boundary. I don’t really know what I did. It was a bit of a blur.
“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 more to come.”
Archer expects his team-mate to deliver on those words, tipping him to become a regular centurion now that he has opened his account.
“There’s so much to be excited about and he’s only 21. I’m not a big stats person but he could go on and have about 40 hundreds in all three formats by the time he retires,” he said with a flourish.
“He’s got the world in front of him. He’s still young and he’s got more than enough time to do wonders in cricket.”
Archer was unaware that England had broken new ground with their crushing margin of victory, having been too focused on reaping the rewards of the batter’s good work with ball in hand.
“Is that a record? Wow. That’s nice,” he said after delivering a killer opening spell of four wickets for 10 runs.
“It was one of those times where you don’t want to put the ball down. I tried my best not to.”
England confirmed after the game that Jamie Smith had been withdrawn from next week’s T20 series, with the management opting to rest him ahead of the Ashes.
Ben Duckett was also given the same breather 24 hours earlier, with the management recognising the need to throw a protective arm around their Test regulars.
South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad was disappointed in what he witnessed but took some solace from the two wins that came before.
“Any excuse is better than none and we were definitely off it today,” he said. “Against a top side like England, when you’re not on top of game, you do get exposed.
“If we are going to be poor at something we’d rather be poor at games that aren’t clutch games but I’m not making light of today’s game – that was slightly embarrassing.”
