Jacob Bethell hit the first century of his professional career as England blitzed 414 in the third ODI against South Africa – silencing some of the questions over his fast-track international promotion.

Bethell has been a fixture of England squads across all formats for the past year, and is set to become the country’s youngest captain when he takes the T20 reins in Ireland later this month, but until Sunday he had never raised his bat for a hundred in competitive cricket.

The 21-year-old finally ended that wait at the Utilita Bowl, blasting 110 in 82 balls as the hosts piled on their fifth highest total for the loss of five wickets – a strong response to losing the Metro Bank Series with a game to spare.

Joe Root knows better than any Englishman what it feels like to reach thr

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