South Africa v England 2nd T20I - 5 Talking Points

The New Wanderers Stadium at Johannesburg today witnessed a carnage as AB de Villiers muscled a 29 ball 71 runs blitzkrieg innings to power South Africa to a 9 wicket win over England. His bossy innings helped the Proteas clinch the T20 series 2-0.

The first innings was dramatic. England did comparatively well as compared to their last outing but awkwardly lost 7 wickets for 14 runs towards the end of the innings and could only manage 171 in 19.4 overs. AB de Villiers opened with Amla and batted brutally. The pair threw England out of the competition before the end of the powerplay! The first six overs of South Africa’s innings saw 88 runs coming off it with the ball flying all over the park. South Africa eventually chased down the target and cruised to an easy nine-wicket win with 5.2 overs to spare.

1. Jos Buttler sizzles again:

After a quite steady start, England yet again appeared to be slipping into trouble after losing back to back wickets of Joe Root and Alex Hales in the 8th over. However, Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan then stabilized England with a 86 runs partnership. Buttler, who was England savior last game, was yet again in good touch and batted really well. Buttler reached his fifty in style, smashing Abbott for a six. However, the very next ball saw his downfall as he was caught by Faf du Plessis. Buttler finished with 54 runs off 28 balls with the help of 4 sixes and 4 fours. He did his job wonderfully, taking England to a comfortable position along with skipper Eoin Morgan.

2. England crash towards the end:

No one would have anticipated the kind of slump England saw after Buttler’s departure. England was at 157/4. Unluckily, Morgan was run out at the non-strikers end while backing up. Later, the Poms who got disastrously cleaned up for 171 with two balls remaining. They lost an astonishing 7 wickets for just 14 runs. Chris Morris chipped in with the wicket of dangerman Chris Morris and Moeen Ali in the 18th over. Abbott then snapped up Chris Jordon and Sam Billing off successive deliveries. Birthday boy Reece Topley defended the following ball to deny the fast bowler a hattrick. Kagiso Rabada came in the penultimate over to dismiss the last batter Adil Rashid and put a full stop the English innings.

3. AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla massacre:

South Africa’s batting looked wobbly at Cape Town. However, the scenes at the Wanderers were completely different as the opening pair of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers plundered 125 for the first wicket in just 8.2 overs to ensure an effortless win for the Proteas today. Chasing 172 runs to win the game, de Villiers, and Amla exploded right from the first ball of the match. AB de Villiers took charge of the on-goings completely and reached his half-century in just 21 balls. Amla also looked in equally brutal mood. The powerplay saw 88 runs at a run rate of 14.66 runs. The partnership finally came to an end after de Villiers was caught by Joe Root off Adil Rashid’s bowling.

4. Pitiful bowling by England:

England started terribly with the balls and became a subject of harsh treatment right from the beginnings of the start of the second innings. Firstly the de Villiers and Amla smashed them to all corner made them look hapless. The economy rates of Reece Topley, Ben Stokes and Chris Jordon were dreadful. Jordon was the worst today after conceding 48 runs in just 2.4 overs. Adil Rashid was the only wicket taker. But, the breakthrough came too late as the match had  virtually reached its result. Faf de Plessis and Amla then completed the formality and South Africa completed the annihilation.

5. Imran Tahir adjudged ‘Man of the Series’:

South AFrica’s bowling unit was outstanding throughout the T20I series. Imran Tahir was their best bowler in the two-match series with 5 wickets at an economy of just 5.75. His best figures came in the 1st game where he took 4/21 and had single-handedly made the England batsmen look dysfunctional. He was impressive in the second T2OI too as he finished with figures of 1/25 in his 4 overs. Tahir was rewarded for his performance with the Man of the Series award.