England captain Eoin Morgan praised his team's bowling and fielding performances after claiming a nervy two-wicket win over South Africa at a raucous Johannesburg as the one-day international series finished all square at 1-1.
The recalled Adil Rashid marked his 100th ODI with 3-51 as a lacklustre South Africa were restricted to 256-7, a total indebted to innings of 69 from captain Quinton de Kock and David Miller, who finished unbeaten.
Jonny Bairstow's 43 from 23 deliveries allowed those below him to bat at their own tempo and there seemed to be no worries as Joe Denly (66) put on half-century stands with Joe Root (49) then Tom Banton (32).
A spectacular wobble saw England lurch from 232-4 to 252-8, but Moeen Ali's unbeaten 17 led the tourists to victory with 40 balls to spare.
England's first ODI win since the World Cup final last year ensured they remain unbeaten in a bilateral series in the 50-over format since the start of 2017.
"We bowled really well today," said England captain Morgan. "We probably had the best of the conditions. It was our best performance in the field and with the ball."
Morgan said he would have liked to finish with a "commanding" win. "It was disappointing to limp over the line like that," he said.
England handed an ODI debut to Saqib Mahmood, who only bowled five overs. However, the paceman took 1-17 in an opening spell alongside Tom Curran as South Africa got off to a ponderous start until Miller's 53-ball counter-punch.
Rashid proved his value in his first ODI since the World Cup final, making sure Rassie van der Dussen's peculiar let-off had little impact, while fellow spinner Moeen took 1-42 on his return to England duty.
"It was a nice wicket with a bit of turn and bounce," Rashid said.
At a venue renowned for large totals, South Africa had reached a ponderous 36-1 after 10 overs as Curran frequently befuddled De Kock while Mahmood brushed Reeza Hendricks' off-bail for his first ODI wicket.
Temba Bavuma seemingly burned a review after being adjudged lbw, ending a 66-run stand alongside De Kock, but the unavailability of UltraEdge had unforeseen consequences for England.
Amid some confusion, the umpires handed South Africa their review back, leading to a reprieve for Van der Dussen, who had been given out lbw off Rashid's next ball only for technology to show the ball would have missed leg stump.
England were incensed but Van der Dussen's was bowled by Moeen in the next over before De Kock perished, cleaned up after missing a massive heave off Rashid, who later had Andile Phehlukwayo lbw.
Miller injected some late impetus for South Africa in a 45-ball fifty, after which he twice clubbed Chris Jordan into the stands in the final over as South Africa exceeded the 250-barrier.
Bairstow displayed none of the hesitancy South Africa's opening pair, flaying Lungi Ngidi for 20 runs in the space of five balls, including two leg-side swipes that cleared the rope.
He continued to blaze a trail but his first mistake led to him mistiming Lutho Sipamla to midwicket, while Jason Roy (21) top-edged Beuran Hendricks with Ngidi taking a skier at short fine leg.
Morgan gave a return catch to the left-arm seamer for nine as England slipped from 61 without loss to 86-3, but Bairstow's efforts meant Root and Denly had to take little risk.
The famous atmosphere inside the Wanderers died down only to rise again when Root tamely clipped to leg slip off left-arm wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi.
Denly crunched back-to-back maximums off Shamsi to bring up his second half-century of the series before holing out with 25 runs still required.
Banton was caught behind three balls later while Curran and Rashid departed without making an impression, only for Moeen to settle matters in the 44th over.
"We had a bit of a sniff but it was still a loss," South African captain De Kock said. "But it was pretty cool to make it tough for the English side."
England will finish their tour with three Twenty20 internationals against South Africa, starting in East London on Wednesday.
