England beat South Africa by 5 wickets in a high scoring thriller to win the series
England defeated South Africa by 5 wickets in the third and deciding
T20I match played at Super Sport Park, Centurion on Sunday. It was another
match dominated by the batsmen who showed their domination and made sure that audience
were entertained.
South African captain Quinton de Kock won the toss and
decided to bat first. Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma showed their positive
right from ball one making sure that they keep the pressure on England bowlers.
De Kock took on Chris Jordan and Mark Wood which put England bowlers on the
backfoot. It was a great batting display by both South African openers as they
raced to 64 for 0 at the end of six overs.
After the power play overs, Bavuma and de Kock continued their
aggressive approach against Adil Rashid which put pressure on England bowlers.
Ben Stokes provided the much-needed breakthrough for England dismissing dangerous
de Kock for 35. South African openers added 84 runs in 7.4 overs. Adil Rashid
got the 2nd wicket of Bavuma for 49 which stem the run flow. Heinrich
Klassen who came into the team took few balls to settle. Stokes struck again to
get rid off Dussen for 11. Klassen took the charge and put the pressure on the
England with big hits. Miller also showed his positive intent which kept the momentum
going. Klassen reached his fifty off just 25 balls and never allowed the
England bowlers to settle.
Tom Curran was brilliant in the death overs to control the
run flow and picked up wickets. Curran dismissed the dangerous Klassen for a
superb 66 off 33 balls. Klassen and Miller added 64 runs for the 4th
wicket. David Miller showed his power hitting but Curran was superb with his
death overs. South Africa posted 222 for 6 in 20 overs on a brilliant pitch.
Chasing 223 runs to win, it was not an ideal start for the
England team as they lost an early wicket of Jason Roy for 7 off Lungi Ngidi
bowling. Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow looked in sublime form taking on South
African bowlers. At the end of six overs, England were 62 for 1.
Despite the run rate climbing, Bairstow and Buttler showed their
power hitting skills which put the South African bowlers under pressure.
Buttler reached his fifty off just 23 balls and kept the momentum going with
Bairstow. Bairstow completed 50 off 27 balls. Pretorius bowled tight overs before
picking the big wicket of Buttler. Buttler and Bairstow added 91 runs for the 2nd
wicket. Eoin Morgan came to the crease and took few balls to settle. Phehlukawyo
dismissed dangerous Bairstow for 64 off 34 balls.
David Malan who was included in the playing XI struggled and
was dismissed for 11. With 53 runs required off 24 balls, Stokes and Morgan
showed smashed Lungi Ngidi for 20 runs which helped England to regain control.
It was a superb batting performance by both batsmen who took the game away from
the hosts with 61 runs stand off 26 balls. Ben Stokes was dismissed for a quick
fire 22 off 12 balls. Morgan smashed a six to reach his fifty off 21 balls.
Moeen Ali hit the winning to help England win the match by 5 wickets with 5
balls to spare.
England 226 for 5 in 19.1 overs (Bairstow 64, Eoin Morgan
57*, Buttler 57, Lungi Ngidi 2/55) beat South Africa 222 for 6 in 20 overs (Heinrich
Klassen 66, Bavuma 49, Tom Curran 2/33, Stokes 2/35) by 5 wickets.
It was an amazing series with all three matches witness some
brilliant performance with the bat and ball. For his captains knock Eoin Morgan
was awarded the man of the match and also man of the series.
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| Eoin Morgan takes England to a 5 wicket win and win the series by 2-1 |
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