London: Samit Patel took five wickets and Flintoff hit unbeaten 78 to inspire England to a 126 run win, and an unassailable 3-0 series lead, against South Africa at the Oval on Friday.

Flintoff's 77 balls innings and 31 from Patel carried England to 296 for 7 from 50 overs and South Africa were never up with the rate as they were bowled out for 170 with Samit Patel taking 5 for 41 to cap a memorable match. This is the first time that an England spinner has taken five wickets in an ODI.

The SA chase flickered only briefly when Albie Morkel hit Patel for two sixes in an over but having planted him into the stands for a second time the batsmen offered a return catch that Patel took low down. The tourists were out of the game by the 30th over of their innings when Mark Boucher was fifth man out with only 114 on the board.

England are now chasing only the second 5-0 series win in their history after they triumphed over Zimbabwe by the same margin in 2001-02.

Brief Score: England 296 for 7 (Bell 73, Flintoff 78*) beat South Africa 170 (Amla 46, Patel 5-41) by 126 runs