England Vs South Africa 3rd T20I – Match Report – England Crush South Africa To Take Series 2-1
Apr 6, 2019 at 2:11 PM
England didn’t need their full strength team to massacre South Africa at Cardiff and in the due process, wrap up the T20I series 2-1. With skipper Eoin Morgan opting to bench himself, it was Jos Buttler who led the hosts against AB de Villiers’ outfit in front of a jam-packed Sophia Gardens at Cardiff. It was an overall superb team performance from England, as the side successfully overcame the heartbreaking loss at Taunton a couple of days ago.
The star of the day though was the debutant, Dawid Malan. Malan, considered a T20 veteran now, having plied his trade in several cash-rich T20 leagues, finally got an opening into the international arena and made it a memorable outing. The reliable opening pair of Jason Roy and Alex Hales was back at the top and while Hales got a decent start, Roy fell early for 8 to Morne Morkel.
Malan walked in at three and set off from the very offset. The southpaw played an array of eye-catching drives and strokes as he used his experience to perfection. The 105 run stand between Malan and Hales took just 10.3 overs and had entertainment written all over it.
Malan was extremely unfortunate to miss out on a century for the taking, as he was dismissed in the 14th over on 78 off 44 deliveries, a knock which included 12 boundaries and two massive sixes. From there on though, England collapsed and a four-wicket haul from Dane Paterson restricted England to just 181-8.
South Africa’s chase got off to a poor start as Reeza Hendricks was dismissed for a duck by Tom Curran, and Chris Morris, sent in at number three followed soon. Skipper AB de Villiers did impress with his entertaining knock of 35, but once he was dismissed by Mason Crane, there wasn’t any hope for the Proteas.
Wicketkeeper Mangaliso Mosehle did give some hope as he hit four huge sixes, but in vain, as he too was dismissed by Curran. In the end, the Proteas could just get to 162 and lost the game by 19 runs. Chris Jordan deserves a lot of accolades for his three wickets, which derailed South Africa’s chase.