Captain Bennie Hansen scored 57 as South Africa U19 beat England U19 by four wickets in the third youth ODI in Stellenbosch on Wednesday to win the series 2-1.

The visitors were bowled out for 156 at Paul Roos Gymnasium, with medium-pacer Daniel Bosman taking 3-4 in 2.5 overs, before the hosts chased down the target with nearly 15 overs to spare.

After England won the toss and opted to bat, SA U19 seamer Carl Fryer (1-17) landed an early blow by dismissing opener Ben Dawkins for four in the sixth over.

Fellow opener Ben Mayes made two before he too fell – this time at the hands of Man of the Series Raeeq Daniels (2-24).

England captain Archie Vaughan then dropped anchor with 60 off 83 balls (six fours) as Aaryan Sawant (20), Farhan Ahmed (26) and Thomas Rew (25) tried to build partnerships with him.

But the Junior Proteas kept chipping away through Divan de Villiers (1-27), Bandile Mbatha (1-23), Chad Mason (1-33) and Jason Rowles (1-24).

Bosman then snared three quick wickets – Joseph Moores, Harry Moore and Eddie Jack – all for ducks.

That saw the visitors slump from 146-4 to 148-8, and the tail was then quickly extinguished.

England were eventually all out in 40.1 overs, leaving a target of 157 for the home side.

Openers Adnaan Lagadien (27) and Mason (28) provided the perfect start by helping them get to 77-1.

Hansen then recorded 57 off 60 balls (10 fours) and while wickets fell at the other end, Paul James (15*) completed the job.

“In the first game, we let the occasion get to us. However, the response after that was incredible,” said Maketa.

“The key for us was ensuring that each player focused on their responsibilities, did the little things right, and then brought everything together. The way the team executed this gave them a great sense of self-belief in the second match.

“It was really encouraging to see that self-belief carried over into today’s match. They stayed in the fight for long periods, especially when England built partnerships, but continued to apply pressure to break those partnerships, which was really pleasing to see.

“It was important for us to ensure that players from the last cycle brought their experience into this new cycle, and that’s exactly what the likes of Raeeq [Daniels], Bennie [Hansen] and Nqobani [Mokoena] have done in this series,” Maketa added.

“They led from the front with their performances and have taken on leadership roles within the team, guiding the younger, less experienced players in the squad.”

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