Twitter Reactions: Tom Curran and Moeen Ali star as England keep nerve in yet another thriller

T20 cricket is all about holding onto your nerve in crunch situations. While this is never easy, two youngsters have shown great composure in the first two T20I games in the ongoing series between South Africa and England. The last time, it was Lungi Ngidi who bowled an excellent last over to seal the game. This time, Tom Curran took the onus upon himself to help his side level the series. Yet, in this high-scoring fixture, it was Moeen Ali’s top-notch cameo that seemed to have made the real difference.

The duo of Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow set the ball rolling for England after losing Jos Buttler early for 2 runs. The track that was used looked a great one and losing the toss didn’t seem to affect them much. After blazing his way through to a 17-ball 35, Bairstow found his way back to the pavilion. Then, it was Roy who was dismissed for 40 off 29 deliveries. Eoin Morgan played the anchor but couldn’t accelerate when required as he scored 27 at a strike rate of 112.5.

It was Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali who helped England breach the 200-run mark. The latter was at his fierce best as he leapt to 39 from only 11 balls in a knock that included 4 sixes. Stokes remained unbeaten on 47 from 30 balls as England posted 204/7 on the board. Lungi Ngidi picked up 3 wickets but gave away 48 runs in his spell.

Quinton de Kock’s herculean effort goes vain

South Africa made a meal of this chase even though they had all the ingredients in place to push for a win. Skipper De Kock fired in all cylinders as he got to 65 from only 22 balls. The likes of Temba Bavuma and David Miller contributed with scores of 31 and 21 respectively. Towards the end, Rassie van der Dussen and Dwaine Pretorius were completely in charge and should have finished the chase.

But like England in the last game, they faltered. 15 runs were required in the last over. Pretorius scored 12 off the first four bringing the equation down to 3 off 2. But that was when Tom Curran pulled the rabbit out of the hat. He got the left-hander (25 off 13 balls) on the penultimate delivery and dismissed Fortuin on the last ball to help England secure a 2-run win and level the series.

Here is how Twitterati reacted to another thriller in this series: