England’s second Twenty20 international loss against South Africa was by 58 runs.
England’s second Twenty20 international: England lost the second T20 international by 58 runs, as South Africa’s bowling and fielding were much better than in the first match. This means that the three-match series will come down to a winner-take-all match. South Africa was hit for 234 runs, and England dropped four catches as they won the first match on Wednesday by 41 runs in Bristol. However, South Africa won the second match in Cardiff by rolling the hosts for 149 runs in 16.4 overs after Proteas batter Rilee Rossouw hit 96, not out, from 55 balls.
The day before, wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi and seamer Andile Phehlukwayo got figures of 0-49 and 1-63, respectively. Keshav Maharaj and Lungi Ngidi’s catches of Moeen Ali (28 runs off 17 balls) and Jonny Bairstow (30 runs off 21 balls) showed how good the fielding was.
Rossouw hits the first fifty for South Africa since 2015
Rossouw’s third T20I half-century was over seven years after his second. The 32-year-old had been playing Kolpak cricket with Hampshire for a long time before returning to international play for the first time since 2016. The left-hander showed the same form he had for Somerset in this year’s Vitality Blast. During Taunton’s run to Finals Day, he hit 623 runs and 42 sixes, which was the most in the tournament.
Rossouw made 50 with Reeza Hendricks (53 off 32) and Tristan Stubbs (15 not out off 12) in a short amount of time. Stubbs had a much calmer innings than the previous time. In that game, he scored 72 runs off 28 balls. Hendricks scored two 50s in 27 balls before Bairstow made a great catch at the deep back square and got rid of him. The bowler Richard Gleeson (3-38), who had dropped Hendricks at short fine leg in the previous over when Sam Curran threw, was very happy with that fantastic play.
The Englishmen lose in Cardiff
In response, England’s captain, Jos Buttler, hit quickly for the second game in a row. He hit Phehlukwayo for two sixes and a four off of his first three balls before hitting the seamer’s fourth ball to mid-on. Then, Dawid Malan (5) and Jason Roy (20 off 22) fell to the spin of Maharaj and Shamsi, bringing Bairstow and Moeen, the heroes of the first T20I, together at 77-3 in the ninth over. Bairstow and Moeen had scored 106 from 37 balls together in the first game of the series.
What each captain had to say
David Miller
“We’ll take the win, it was a great turnaround – we took our catches and the batters were phenomenal. I am chuffed with the bowlers, they made it easier for me by picking up wickets all the way through. It was a great performance.”
Jos Buttler
“The wicket played well so South Africa’s score was par. We had guys like myself who got starts but didn’t make the match-winning contribution. The Ageas Bowl will now be a great decider.”
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