Spirited performances from Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes helped England beat South Africa by 2 runs in the second T-20 international played at Kingsmead, Durban.
Chasing a colossal 205, South Africa, at a point were cruising towards a victory before England pulled things back and restricted the hosts two runs short of the target.
The victory also helped England level the series 1-1 with a game to play.
Pic Credit: Hindustan times
As it happened
Put into bat, England were off to a flying start, courtesy a 52 run stand between Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow for the second wicket, ending the powerplay at 55-1.
Bairstow was the first to go after missing a slog to Phehlukwayo and Roy followed soon. Two quick wickets and South Africa were right back into the contest.
They chocked England and reduced them to 123-5 in the 16th over. Just as it looked that South Africa had a firm grip on the match, walked in Moeen Ali, who changed the game for England.
The Southpaw looked at his absolute best and ripped South Africa apart with an 11 ball 39. The flurry of boundaries from Ben Stokes in the final overs helped England post a mammoth 204-7
Eyeing a series victory, South Africa approached the target in some style. Quinton de Kock went berserk from ball one, smashing a destructive 65 of just 22 balls before holding out to Stokes of Mark Wood at cow corner.
The breakthrough gave England an opportunity to claw back into the match and the visitors obliged the same with regular wickets. They pegged South Africa back to 158-5 in the 17th over, still needing 45 off the final three overs.
South Africa were almost down and out before Van der Dussen resuscitated life back into the match, stroking 19 off Mark Wood in the 18th over.
He along with Dwaine Pretorius dragged the equation to 3 off 2 before Tom Curran picked two wickets of the final two balls of the match to give England a thrilling victory.
Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali- The heart of English set up
If England has to win the T-20 World Cup later this year, both Stokes and Ali will have to play a key role. Both of them have been outstanding for England in the shortest format.
This match too, had it not been for a blistering innings from Moeen Ali (39 off 11) and Ben Stokes (47 off 30), England couldn’t have posted such a challenging total.
With the bowl too, the duo bowled crucial overs with Stokes picking up the wicket of dangerous Miller, helping England restrict South Africa just before the finish line.
Pic Credit: the sun.uk
For South Africa, it was again their skipper Quinton de Kock, who’s blossomed even more post taking the responsibility of a skipper.
De Kock smashed a breathtaking 65 off 22, giving South Africa an upper hand in the chase. Unfortunately, his performance could not get South Africa the desired result.
Big guns need to take responsibility for South Africa
South Africa desperately needs a player like David Miller to support de Kock. For a team in transition, their established players need to take more responsibility.
Miller has been an important figure in this South African set up for a long time now and it’s time for him to share some load of the shoulders of Quinton de Kock.
Players like Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen have shown a lot of promise but to get the results in your favor, the whole team needs to contribute.
The decider of the series will be played in Centurion on Sunday.
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