As the 2nd T20I between England and South Africa has offically ended, one side clearly dominated this matchup after it looked the opposite for them in the first game. With the English clearly being the winning side here, as they won by over 130 runs, this will be a great way to set up a series finale for them with all the confidence. A group that was facing heavy criticism for their recent performances and lost a lot of credibility after getting dominated, they have responded in a really good style. Harry Brook seemed to be a tremendous captain as he finally got a great knock in and was also able to help his other players show up in great fashion as well.
Meanwhile, South Africa looked very weak during this match, and it was due in part to their bowling attack. On a surface that didn’t seem to favor them at all, choosing to bowl first was a vital mistake, as it led to a near record being broken. As they looked completely outmanned and classed during this match, things will have to change since they surprisingly benched Corbin Bosch, while also still not playing Senuran Muthuswamy. With a final game that is still ahead of us, Aiden Markram did look solid leading this side today, but this loss was mostly in part because a lot of their players didn’t have experience facing a fiery T20I side like England under pressure.
England: Batsmen Truly Destroy Almost Every Delivery They See En Route To A Massive Innings
Looking back on this innings, it was one that England’s side truly dominated after their power attack led from the front. Opener Jos Buttler finally found great touch in the powerplay and continued dominating opposing bowlers by smashing a half-century in less than 20 balls.
Someone who was strong in their previous match as well, he was able to carry out his innings this time out by knocking 83 runs in an opening partnership that went for over 125 with Phil Salt. Crunching eight maxmimus, while also showing an elite ability to hit quite a few fours, his true abilities as a striker let Phil Salt also add 40 during their time together. As the batsmen opposite Buttler ended up going for 141 without getting out, this was just an absolutely brilliant performance for him.
Someone who had not played T20I cricket for quite a bit of time, Phil Salt was able to finish with 23 total boundaries while staying well over a strike rate of 200 throughout his innings. Phil Salt mixed his strength with classy shots on the right plus left boundaries, he had carried a huge partnership alongside Jacob Bethell that went for almost 100 runs.
A duo that looked very strong due to the fact of they were batting from opposite sides, when Bethell was removed for 26, one of the biggest success factors was captain Harry Brook’s knock. Seeing that Brook had lately been getting a lot of criticism for his recent batting performances, today was different as he led them past 300 and scored 41 in just 21 balls with 6 total boundaries.
South Africa: Miserable Bowling Performance By One Of The Better Units
On South Africa’s bowling side, this was really a showing they want to forget as none of their piece showed up today and created any threat. Starting with key bowler Kagiso Rabada, he leaked 70 runs during his four overs and was not in command due to the number of wides he gave up towards the end. Someone who kept missing his length and made it easier for opposing batsmen to take him on, this wasn’t one of the star’s best days at the office.
Left-handed bouncer threat in Marco Jansen had also been brutally dominated after giving up a 15 economy and not even having one wicket-taking opportunity. Although he started extremely strong on his first couple balls, towards the end it felt like every delivery of his was going for six.
Out of all these pieces, though, the one with the roughest day was Lizaad Williams, as there was a time when he nearly gave up 7 boundaries in a row. Allowing over 20 in each of his three overs, he wasn’t able to control any pace and really seemed to just start dumping deliveries to get overs done with towards the end of his spell.
Talking about spin, Aiden Markram was called upon for six balls, but it ended up being a nightmare as he got crunched for three fours in a row and really couldn’t get any turn. Bjourn Fortuin did try giving a hand with his two wickets, but allowing over 50 runs himself didn’t lead to much since the young left-handed pacer in Kwena Maphaka also struggled.
South Africa: Batting Unit Fell Far Short Of Their Target With Extra Pressure Already On
On the Proteas side, they batted in a way their side really didn’t want to due to having a chase of over 300 runs. Opener Aiden Markram did show a lot of prowess early on by creating a quick 50 run partnership with Ryan Rickleton. As the captain was able to strive with 30 runs scored on his end during this opening frame, his partner in Rickleton was able to score 20 of just 10 with two massive sixes before being removed at 50/1 by Adil Rashid.
Seeing that Lhuan-Dre Pretorious and Dewald Brevis got out in quick succession with Markram still in the crease, it already became a problem for them due to them not even getting out of the powerplay.
With the captain being able to bat around for three more overs, he was the next wicket after getting removed for 41 runs and hitting 6 wonderful boundaries. Tristan Stubbs and Donovan Ferreria started showing a lot more hope for this team down the order as they combined for 38 runs before the partnership was broken by Sam Curran.
As Ferreria was the wicket, he had scored 23 runs on three great looking fours and showed a lot of prowess against a variety of bowling styles. With Stubbs plus Jansen also getting removed right after him, that really sold the deal for South Africa, plus were then completely bowled out for 158 after over 16 overs.
England: Bowlers Sealed The Deal Pretty Early In This Matchup
Talking about England’s bowlers, they did a great job of handling the number of runs they needed to defend after showing struggles last match. Jofra Archer took three wickets and was phenomenal during his overs as it didn’t seem like any batsmen could take him for boundaries, while also limiting reverse sweep shots.
As Sam Curran had another tremendous performance by removing two batsmen, while going for an economy rate under 6.00, it let Liam Dawson play a little more risk heavy as he also got two of his own. With Adil Rashid having a rare expensive showing, he didn’t have to put in much either because Will Jacks had an over where he took two vital wickets later on.
Also Read: ENG vs SA: Wiaan Mulder Creates A Havoc In England’s Batting Unit