South Africa opener Quinton de Kock's unbeaten 92 turned out to be in vain as rain scuppered hopes of a result in Sunday's third and final one-day international against England, with the series ending all square at 1-1.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Proteas were 159-2 in the 28th over, with De Kock having struck 92 off just 76 balls, including 13 fours, when rain stopped play for the second time in the match at Headingley.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Both sides needed to bat for a minimum of 20 overs for a result to be declared under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method for rain-affected white-ball games.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But the umpires deemed that would not be possible when they called the game off shortly after 4:00 pm local time (1500 GMT) as a series that had started during a nationwide heatwave ended in more familiar English conditions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The abandonment meant left-hander De Kock was just eight runs shy of what would have been his 18th ODI century.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
England had gone into the game looking to avoid a third consecutive white-ball series defeat under new captain Jos Buttler, who succeeded now retired 50-over World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan, following T20 and ODI reverses against India.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
South Africa won the toss, with both sides unchanged after England's thumping 118-run win in a rain-affected match at Old Trafford which followed the Proteas' 62-run triumph at Chester-le-Street.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
England made an early breakthrough when Janneman Malan (11) hit left-arm quick David Willey straight to Jason Roy at point to leave the Proteas 24-1.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But De Kock was in fine touch as he completed his first fifty of the series off just 39 balls, with the 29-year-old reaching the landmark by hitting boundaries off successive deliveries from leg-spinner Adil Rashid.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
South Africa accelerated following the loss of Malan and were 89-1 by the time wicketkeeper De Kock reached his half-century.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Rassie van der Dussen, who made a career-best 134 in the series opener, shared a second-wicket stand of 75 with De Kock before he holed out for 26 when sweeping against Rashid.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Rain first stopped play when South Africa were 119-2 in the 21st over.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
De Kock deployed the reverse sweep to good effect when play resumed in a match now reduced to 45 overs per side before a fresh downpour ended the match.<\/p>\r\n\r\n