England vs South Africa 1st T20I Match Highlights:
The first T20I of the 3-match series between England and South Africa took place on the eve of 27 July. What we saw was absolute vandalism by England’s batters as is always expected of them. Great knocks from Moein Ali and Jonny Bairstow helped the hosts win the match by 41 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the series. Let us have a look at England vs South Africa 1st T20I Match Highlights.
In the first 13 overs, England had a score of 120/3. In the following five overs, they scored 98 runs, which was their second-highest T20I total. Up until the 13th over, the game was proceeding according to typical English white-ball standards. After that, chaos ensued.
In just one over, Bairstow singled out Shamsi and hit him for three sixes. Then, skipper Miller gave rookie Stubbs Shamsi’s fourth over, but he too was not spared. He scored 20 runs off the only over, which also had a no-ball, and then Phehlukwayo lost his focus, giving up 33 runs off his final over.
In the midst of all this insane hitting, Moeen Ali set a new record for the fastest T20I fifty, Bairstow came dangerously close to reaching his first T20I ton, and Ngidi earned a well-deserved fifer. Overall, South Africa had arguably one of the worst days on the field. They dropped Bairstow four times, and some of the fielding performances were appalling.
When pursuing 235, SA was two down for practically nothing, so they knew it would take some miraculous knocks to even get near the big target. Although Hendricks and Stubbs contributed, it was never enough. Clearly, England got a couple more than par when they made a meal of their bowling in the final few overs. Even though Stubbs was hitting them clean, the game appeared to be close. But eventually, it all went in England’s favor as they won the match by 41 runs.
The bowlers must be sitting in a corner after this high scoring game. England now leads 1-0. Despite Stubbs’ valiant effort, their batters and SA’s shoddy fielders ensured that the huge score by England was always sufficient for the win. The World Cup isn’t too far off, so the T20 festival is just getting started and we are all excited for more such matches.
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