SA vs ENG: 5 most memorable T20Is between South Africa and England
Ever since the England cricket team underwent a massive overhaul in 2015, they have easily become one of the most exciting teams in world cricket. They play a fearless brand of cricket and have their team loaded with match-winners from top to bottom. Another team, which has over the years played an exciting yet consistent brand of cricket has been South Africa. Like England, South Africa has always been a team with huge players and the contests between the two teams, especially in the shortest format, have been extremely gripping. Let us have a look at the 5 most memorable T20Is between England and South Africa.
5 – 2nd T20I, South Africa tour England, 2017
In one of the most exciting matches in a series which saw England dominate, the Proteas put in a commendable performance. Batting first, they managed to put 174 on the board, mainly due to the efforts of skipper Ab de Villiers who scored 46 of 20 and a useful cameo of 31 lower down the order by Farhaan Behardien.
Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy, who scored 47 and 67 respectively, had a wonderful 110 run partnership and seemed to be safely steering England towards an easy victory. However, Bairstow’s dismissal in the 14th over triggered a dramatic collapse. From needing 50 of 39 balls, England needed 12 off the last over to win the game. Unfortunately for them, debutante Liam Livingstone was completely out of sorts. His 16 of 18 balls cost England. He played most of the last over and just couldn’t find his timing. Andile Phehlukwayo managed to defend 12 runs off the last over as SA won a thrilling contest by 3 runs.
4 – 1st T20I, England tour South Africa, 2020
One of the last series played before the worldwide lockdown in March was also the most nail-biting T20I series played in a long time. The young Proteas team managed to score 177 in the 1st innings. Everyone contributed with Temba Bavuma being the highest scorer with 43. It appeared to be a cakewalk for the stunning English batting line up.
Jason Roy stepped up once again and scored a terrific 38 ball 70. While England did fall away from the required run rate in the middle overs, skipper Eoin Morgan more than made up for it, with a 52 of 34 balls, and even took 16 runs off the penultimate over but eventually lost his wicket on the last ball of that over. But with 4 wickets in hand and just 6 runs to get, everyone expected England to get home with ease in the last over. Lungi Ngidi had other plans. He bowled an astounding final over, picked up 3 wickets and South Africa managed to win the game by just 1 run. It was an epic choke by England but an even more remarkable turnaround for SA.
South Africa win by 1 run against England. Ngidi is phenomenal. #SAvENG pic.twitter.com/woWI2BdYP7
— Benny Mathebula (@BennyMathebula) February 12, 2020
3- 3rd T20I, England tour South Africa, 2020
The same series saw another outstanding match in the 3rd game. After levelling the series in the 2nd T20I, which was also an edge of the seat thriller, England seemed to have the momentum. South Africa put in a spirited performance and set up a huge first innings total of 222. Henrich Klaasen top-scored with a blistering 66 of 33 and was well supported by Miller, de Kock and Bavuma.
In the chase, Jos Buttler’s 57 and Jonny Bairstow’s 64 upfront put England in a strong position in the first 10 overs. But a lot of work still remained after that. Skipper Morgan came to the party once again, and this time made sure he stayed right till the end. He took on all the bowlers and scored a scintillating 57 of just 22 balls and along with Ben Stokes took England home with 5 balls to spare.
2 – Match 26, 2014 T20 World Cup
In a potential knockout game, it was the Proteas skipper Ab de Villiers who truly took the game by the scruff of the neck and helped his team win the game against an England team. Batting first, Hashim Amla got SA off to a good start with a fluent half-century. But with just 120 runs on the board at the end of 14.3 overs, it seemed SA wouldn’t get beyond 170-175. AB de Villiers smashed whichever bowler came his way and finished with a staggering 69 of just 28 balls.
England wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Alex Hales got them off to a rapid start with 38 of 22. Buttler and Ravi Bopara played quickfire 30 run cameos as well. With 22 needed off the last over, Tim Bresnan did smash Steyn for 16 in 3 balls, but it came when the match had already gone beyond their grasp and England lost by 3 runs. It was easily one of the best games of the 2014 T20 World Cup.
1. Match 18, 2016 – T20 World Cup
On this day in 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣6️⃣, England chased down 230 to beat South Africa by two wickets in Mumbai in a World T20 thriller!
? Brutal striking from Jason Roy – 43 (16)
?? A Joe Root masterclass – 83 (44)It remains the 3rd highest all-time T20i chase. A truly ridiculous win! pic.twitter.com/fnsBQNj7ML
— The Googly (@officialgoogly) March 18, 2020
This was one of the most astonishing games of T20 cricket. Batting first, South Africa would have been more than happy getting a total of 229 on the board. Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock and J.P Duminy all scored 50s and regularly attacked the bowlers to get such a huge total. They would have considered the score to be a match-winning one against most teams in the competition. But not England.
England got 21 in the first over, 44 in the first two and already had 89 by the time the first 6 overs ended, with Roy having contributed 43 of just 16 balls. Despite losing wickets regularly, England kept going. Joe Root, who isn’t regarded as a typical T20 player, played his best T20 innings ever. He scored a match-winning 83 of just 44 balls and England won the game with 2 balls to spare.
