Reeza Hendricks led an impressive South Africa A chase of the England Lions daunting total of 376-9 in the second List A 50 overs match at the Diamond Oval on Wednesday.

In the end he did not quite get his side across the line as England won by 70 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series but his innings of 141 (106 balls, 14 fours and five sixes) against an attack that included five bowlers who have represented England at full international level speaks volumes.

The biggest compliment one can pay him is to state the obvious that South Africa were always in the runs chase while he was at the crease.

The talented opening batsman has been piling up runs all season and has taken his game to a new level after making his debut for South Africa in the Proteas T20 squad.

Recently he scored 152 for the Knights in the Sunfoil Series four-day competition against the Cape Cobras and towards the end of last year made a career best 181 against the Sunfoil Dolphins in the Momentum One-Day Cup

The national selectors have not revealed their hand as far as replacement players are concerned in the event of injuries to their World Cup squad but Hendricks has certainly put his name high up that potential list.

It was a day and evening for players endeavouring to make their mark at senior international level as two of the Lions young stars, Jason Roy and James Vince, also helped themselves on a superb one-day pitch with an outfield that seemed to create ground fielding problems for the players on both sides.

The pair shared a second-wicket stand of 198 in 26 overs. Roy made his fifth List A century and went on to a career best 141 (110 balls, 13 fours and 6 sixes) while Vince was cruelly dismissed leg before wicket by Beuran Hendricks for 99 (95 balls, 9 fours and a six).

The Lions would have posted an even bigger total but for a late innings implosion that saw them slip from 362-4 to 375-9 in 11 balls while only 13 runs were scored.

It enabled Kagiso Rabada to finish with the respectable figures in the circumstances of 4-67 in his 10 overs.

The key bowler in the match, however, was the England left-arm spinner, Stephen Parry, who had figures of 2-35 from his first seven overs which was substantially better than any of his South African counterparts. He broke the threatening opening stand of 142 in only 18 overs between Hendricks and Dean Elgar (66 off 59 balls, six fours and a six) and soon afterwards claimed the big-hitting Dane Vilas as well.

When in-form Theunis de Bruyn was dismissed seven balls later the South Africans were under heavy pressure. Nevertheless they were always in the game as long as Hendricks was at the crease and they went into the final 20 overs needing a gettable 155 runs.

However, Hendricks ran out of top-order partners and finally perished himself trying to hit over the covers.