SA v Eng 1st T20I Review: South Africa hold nerves to clinch a thriller

South Africa maintained their fine form and momentum with a 3-wicket win over England. Playing in good bowling conditions, Faf du Plessis put the visitors in to bat after winning the toss.

England openers Jason Roy and Alex Hales got off to a flier as they had done in the ODI series. Roy was the first wicket to fall as he was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada courtesy a back of the hand delivery that beat him for pace. His partner Alex Hales went soon after when he was foxed by Imran Tahir. Wickets began to fall in a heap when Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes fell in matter of overs. Tahir was the architect of destruction as he removed Morgan and Root in quick succession. The impressive leg-spinner clinched his fourth wicket as Moeen Ali was caught at cover by skipper du Plessis.

Jos Buttler and Chris Jordan led a brief but fruitful resistance as they put together a 27-run partnership. However, Kyle Abbott returned to action as he removed Jordan and Adil Rashid to close the English innings. Buttler remained unbeaten on 32 as England was restricted to 134/8 in their 20 overs.

Chasing a rather frugal total, the Proteas got off to an indifferent start. AB de Villiers fell for 7 off 10 balls early on in the innings. Hashim Amla (22), Faf du Plessis (25) and JP Duminy (23) made useful contributions as they stitched useful partnerships while keeping the run-rate in check. However, the low strike rate from Faf du Plessis soon saw the home side begin to fall behind the asking rate by a considerable margin. Rilee Russouw, who had failed to make an impact in the ODI series, attempted to up the ante as he too perished for a run-a-ball 18. His innings included a massive six.

Having finally got a chance in the series, David Miller struck a six and a four as he raced away to 13 off just 9 balls. He too, however, fell to the brilliant pace of Chris Jordan. The latter proved to be England’s best bowler as he finished with figures of 3/23 off his four overs. Spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid too put up impressive performances. However, their efforts went in vain as explosive all-rounder Chris Morris decided that it was not today that England would break the Protea winning streak.

Staring defeat right at the face, Morris faced up to the swing and pace of Reece Topley. The first ball Morris faced off Topley raced away to deep extra cover for a boundary. The next delivery went straight back over the bowler’s head and over the long-on fence for a six. Thus, two deliveries from the Topley over changed the match completely as South Africa clinched a 3-wicket win on the ultimate ball of the match.

Brief Scores:

England – 134/8 in 20 overs (Buttler 32*; Tahir 4/21)

South Africa – 135/7 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 25; Jordan 3/23)

Man of the Match: Imran Tahir