Urvi Shah
Author, Beyond the Matches
In the 2nd T20I between South Africa and England at Boland Park, Paarl, it was a must-win for South Africa to keep the series alive. England won the toss and chose to bowl first.
RSA started off well as Quinton de Kock hit some boundaries and took advantage of the powerplay. Losing two wickets in a powerplay in a T20 match is mostly a bad sign for the team. After Quinton’s wicket, we saw the team struggle a bit to build a steady partnership. In order to score more and steal extra runs, we also saw a run-out in the inning. Adil Rashid stood out for the England team as he picked up 2 wickets in 4 overs and conceded 23 runs along with Jofra Archer who picked up an early wicket and conceded just 18 runs in 4 overs. With very little contribution from the middle order, the team however survived the pressure created by the bowling unit and set a decent score of 146-6 in 20 overs. ENG needed 147 runs to win the game.
Shamsi (4-0-19-3) and Ngidi (4-0-51-2) gave a good start to the RSA team. In the first half of the 2nd innings, RSA had good control over the game. However, Malan’s 55 runs in 40 balls helped England in winning the game. With the foundation set by the middle order batsmen, we could see how the game turned to England’s side. Even if the big guns of ENG did not contribute much, ENG still was able to cross the line and seal the game with a win.
ENG won the game by 4 wickets and won the series 2-0. With one more game to be played, there is still a chance for RSA to win a game and close the series 2-1.
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