Morris trumps Root
Joe Root hit his second successive century for England but again finished on the losing side after an astonishing assault by South African all-rounder Chris Morris squared the series at the Wanderers Stadium on Friday.
South Africa won the fourth one-day international by one wicket to set up a series decider in Cape Town on Sunday.
Man-of-the-match Morris, dropped on 14 when South Africa were eight down and still 52 runs short of victory, slammed 62 off 38 balls.
Adil Rashid, the man who dropped Morris, was brought on to bowl with the scores level and bowled Morris with a googly. But last man Imran Tahir punched the next ball square for the winning boundary.
That the match went so deep seemed unlikely when England were floundering at 108 for six after being sent in to bat.
But Root made 109 and steered England to a total of 262. Chris Woakes scored 33 and helped Root put on 95 for the seventh wicket.
Stuart Broad bowled Centurion century-maker Hashim Amla for nought in the first over of the South African innings. The rest of Broad's match was less successful, although he had De Villiers dropped on nine off the first ball of his second spell.
De Villiers immediately went on the attack, hitting Broad's next two balls for four and six. He hurried to 36 off 27 balls and was threatening to swing the match back in South Africa's when Woakes ran him out with a direct hit.
No South African batsman was able to score more than Farhaan Behardien's 38 until Morris took full advantage of his let-off, hitting three sixes and four fours.
SCORES IN BRIEF
ENGLAND: 262 all out in 47.5 overs (Hales 50, Root 109, Woakes 33, Rashid 39; Abbott 2-57, Rabada 4-45, Tahir 3-46)
SOUTH AFRICA: 266 for 9 in 47.2 overs (Morris 62, Berhardien 38, De Villiers 36; Topley 2-39, Rashid 2-38, Stokes 2-46)
Result: South Africa won by 1 wicket
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