English registered a clinical 41-run victory over David Miller’s South Africa on Wednesday, 27 July. After the fiery fifty in 16 balls from all-rounder, Moeen Ali, England put on 234 runs on board from their 20 overs. He scored England’s fastest half-century in T20Is, crossing Liam Livingstone’s 17-ball effort against Pakistan. During the chase, South Africa’s team could score only 193 runs for 8 wickets in 20 overs. Tristan Stubbs was the highest run-getter as he amassed 72 runs in just 28 balls with 2 fours and 8 sixes.
Jonny Bairstow’s terrific summer continued as he played another knock of 53-ball 90. South Africa could have done way better if they would not have dropped Bairstow four times during the innings, and they ended up paying the price for it. It looked at a point that England was going to breeze past the world record of 241 runs set by New Zealand, but fell short in the final over.
WATCH – Moeen Ali Smashes Fastest T20I Fifty For England Smashes 5 Sixes Off Phehlukwayo With Bairstow
Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow took onus in the final 10 overs of the first innings and they started concerning bowlers like Andile Phehlukwayo. South Africa bowled a shorter length to try to negate the small straight boundaries, but Bairstow and Moeen were in non-mood of mercy as England smashed as many as 20 sixes, well past their previous T20 record of 15.
Coming into bat, South Africa tried to keep up with the required run rate for most of their chase but as they kept on losing wickets, they failed to witness an explosive finish. Needing at a run-rate of 18 per over in the last three overs, Chris Jordan’s brilliant 18th over sealed the game for England where he did not concede a single boundary.
The highlight of the South African innings though was the young Tristan Stubbs, freshly out of the Mumbai Indians (MI) camp in the Indian Premier League (IPL), took just 28 deliveries to hit 72 runs, in one of the most astonishing counter-attacks by a 21-year-old against seasoned internationals. In the process, he scored the second fastest half-century in T20Is for the Proteas off 19 balls.
WATCH – Mohammed Siraj Gets Two Wickets In His First Over
Opener Reeza Hendricks scored a brisk 57 from 33 deliveries to get the innings underway, but the tourists left themselves with too much to do at the end. The tour will now move on to Sofia Gardens at Cardiff, where the two teams face each other on Thursday, 28 July.
Here is the video of the knock from Tristian Stubbs:
https://youtu.be/9PGmeztqsuM
