Vic Marks' match report
Summing up
In the post-match chatting, De Villiers says he found it difficult to create pace with the bat and hit it off the square. “For some reason, I can’t explain why, it was difficult to hit through the line.” For England, Morgan says, “To be honest, I thought we were excellent,” making particular emphasis on praising the spinners Crane and Dawson and eulogising Bairstow’s “hunger to do well”. Bairstow is duly named man of the match.
England were indeed impressively dominant here, coming so soon after a good number of their squad suffered that chastening beating by Pakistan, with encouraging performances here by newbies such as Crane and more experienced hands such as Bairstow, Wood and Hales. South Africa were up against it from the start, and were outclassed more and more as the match went on, and by the end were spilling catches and fumbling all over the place.
That’s all from me for tonight. Stay on the site for reports and reaction and thanks for following and emailing. Bye.
One more important email from Ian Copestake:
A nice Glastonbury overlap concerns the wonderful efforts of Liz Aubrey, currently covering the music event in her role as a music journo, to set up a charity cricket event in honour of Dan Lucas this summer.
Yes. Liz is organising a cricket match in Dan’s memory to raise money for diabetes research. It’ll be in London on Sunday 13 August and all OBOers are welcome – they have enough players, but there will be refreshments, music, socialising and general OBO larks. If you’d like to go along, get in touch and I’ll forward it to Liz. Or you can donate here. OBO-ing this summer just doesn’t feel the same without Dan, and we all still miss him enormously.
England beat South Africa by nine wickets!
14.3 overs: England 143-1 (Hales 47, Bairstow 60), target 143. Cheeky brilliance from Bairstow – Phehlukwayo sends a short sharp one in at him, but Bairstow just leans back and lets it fall onto his uppercut, which flies above the keeper and goes for four to bring the scores level, and a quick single follows to win it with ease. The rout is done and dusted. England have utterly outclassed South Africa here.
Updated
14th over: England 138-1 (Hales 47, Bairstow 55), target 143. Excellent running between the wickets, even with the game won, sums up England’s fine display today. Bairstow scampers two more this way off Shamsi’s first ball and then brings up his half-century, off 29 deliveries, with an effortless back-foot drive for four. Shamsi comes back at him well, to be fair, pushing one through his defences and Bairstow misses. A neat chip brings two more and a single takes England to within five of victory.
“If Taunton want to recreate that festival atmosphere they should get Hendricks on stage,” writes Phil Sawyer. “He can perform the Star Spangled Banner then set fire to his guitar. I’m here all week, try the lobster.”
142/3 just about the most unforgivable score imaginable in T20. Massive miscalculation of the relative value of the resources available.
— Dave Tickner (@tickerscricket) June 21, 2017
Updated
13th over: England 129-1 (Hales 47, Bairstow 46), target 143. When it’s not running for you, it’s not running for you. Bairstow’s fine square cut is well cut off initially by the boundary, but only parried over the ropes for four. It gets worse, when Hales’s straight slog is dropped by Berhardien and then nudged over for four. Hales then rubs the saltiest of salt into the gaping wound with a belting six over long-on.
England are cruising, but let’s pick at some sores anyway. Here’s Ian Copestake: “I have now developed an aversion to Roy. Yes, amazingly talented, and for two overs or so it was all back in place. But he then thinks he is invincible and wants to show that anything he wishes to do will work. You cannot ignore reality in cricket, because it bites you in the behind. My worry is that he puts himself before the needs of the team and is about as far removed from Bairstow as it is possible to be.”
Updated
12th over: England 112-1 (Hales 36, Bairstow 40), target 143. Hales belts Pretorius away on the legside in front of square for two, and then cuts for one more before Bairstow steps to his side and ramps a short ball over his head for four. The pattern of this international white-ball English summer is continuing – fine cricket, but easy wins. We need a close match somewhere soon.
Updated
11th over: England 104-1 (Hales 33, Bairstow 35), target 143. A spin for spin replacement, as Smuts returns. He’s done a bit more than most and is accurate and tidy here, unlike Phehlukwayo on the deep extra-cover boundary who fumbles Bairstow’s firm reverse-sweep over the ropes for four. Which means Bairstow and Hales can just languidly take their singles where they please for the rest of the over. Seven from it.
10th over: England 97-1 (Hales 32, Bairstow 30), target 143. The right-arm quick Pretorius is into the attack and is nudged off his pads for three by Hales straight away. He then concedes a wide, which could have been four of them but for a fine sprawling dive by Mosehle. A nudged Hales single and a quick, soft-handed Bairstow one ensue before Hales slashes over the in-field behind square on the offside to get four more. This is a stroll.
9th over: England 85-1 (Hales 23, Bairstow 28), target 143. The keeper Mosehle yells excitedly as Shamsi sends his first two balls into Hales’s pads but each are pitched outside leg stump. Hales adds a single to tee up Bairstow to step back and lift another glorious straight driven SIX into the crowd. A bit of strike rotation completes the over, which is all England need to do really now. They’re talking about meat raffles in the commentary box and people in the crowd are dad-dancing to One Step Beyond. Could there be a more English scene?
8th over: England 76-1 (Hales 21, Bairstow 21), target 143. Bairstow advances to sweep a low full toss from Tahir to deep square leg for two, which is a mere appetiser for a confident swept SIX in front of square on the legside. It’s confident stuff from the Yorkshireman, who’s clearly relishing the opportunity and has zipped along to 21 from 13 balls.
7th over: England 64-1 (Hales 20, Bairstow 10), target 143. The quickish left-arm spinner Shamsi comes on. It’s getting darker and duskier out there, with the floodlights now on, which could make him a tricky customer but Shamsi’s a little too short at times here. Bairstow picks up three, and a couple more singles ensue, but it’s tight enough.
6th over: England 59-1 (Hales 19, Bairstow 6), target 143. South Africa call on Tahir, and perhaps they need to, but not if Hales can get on top of him as he does second ball here, mowing it low over midwicket and into the crowd for SIX. A couple more singles follow. Tahir didn’t find as much turn there as England’s spinners did, but you don’t necessarily expect him to. And that’s the end of the powerplay.
Taunton/Glastonbury mash-up prediction:
@tomdaviesE17 If it's on at the same time as Glastonbury, it's bound to be rained off with a waterlogged pitch
— Chris Drew (@mesnilman) June 21, 2017
Updated
5th over: England 51-1 (Hales 12, Bairstow 5), target 143. Another bowler strikes with his first ball of the match, Phehlukwayo this time snaring Roy, who undoes his brilliance of the previous over with an ill-advised reverse swipe. Bairstow is off the mark with a nice square cut for four. But ten an over so far will do for England.
Fun fact: Roy had score more runs in that previous over than he did in the entire Champions Trophy.
Updated
Wicket! Roy lbw b Phehlukwayo 28, England 45-1
Oh Jason, what have you done? After all that, Roy goes, missing an attempted reverse-sweep off the new bowler’s first delivery, and being hit low and plum in front. No need for that at all.
Updated
4th over: England 45-0 (Roy 28, Hales 11), target 143. Jason Roy is back, back, back, as England run amok. Parnell begins an over with a wayward ball again, this one wide down the legside, which is nudged off Roy’s thigh guard past the keeper for four leg-byes. Roy is swiftly onto the next ball though, taking one step and belting it high over the bowler’s head, not for a “maximum” but for a SIX. A top-edge for four follows and Parnell’s losing his head a bit here, but credit to Roy, who treats the next two ball – much better ones – with disdain, a beautifully timed and placed clip through the legside for four preceding a square punch on the offside for four more. Terrific batting.
Updated
3rd over: England 22-0 (Roy 9, Hales 11), target 143. Smuts continues, around the wicket to Roy, who swipes a clean and agreeable SIX over backward square leg, which is well caught in the crowd. Another single puts Hales on strike, and he thumps the final ball of the over through the offside for two.
2nd over: England 12-0 (Roy 2, Hales 8), target 143. South Africa start with pace at the other end, Parnell banging his first ball down short, wide and not very handsome to concede the first extra. The next one’s short too, and Hales is onto it quickly, clobbering it high over midwicket for four. Parnell comes back well, anticipating Hales’s movement at the crease but the batsman is able to carve out two more with a square drive. A leg-bye completes a satisfying over for England.
Looking ahead in this series, I’m not sure what the cricket/Glastonbury crossover demographic is, but this seems a decent point:
Who on earth scheduled a T20 International at Taunton on the Friday of Glastonbury?
— Ian M (@Marriotti67) June 21, 2017
Updated
1st over: England 4-0 (Roy 2, Hales 2), target 143. South Africa open with spin. The left-armer JJ Smuts, having faced the first ball of South Africa’s innings, bowls the first one of England’s, to rather better effect – his first ball sliding into Roy’s pads, but it’s going down leg. A clipped single gets Roy away next ball, and Hales is off the mark straight away with one too. It’s a tidy first over, with a pair of singles to each batsman.
Welcome back and shut up. For out come the England batsmen.
So, England will fancy themselves to chase down a modest looking target, having bowled with considerable nous and control for most of that innings, though Imran Tahir might fancy his chances of making serious inroads for South Africa too – the home side’s spinners certainly caused some problems. I’m making no predictions. Instead, I’m having a quick break before England’s reply. See you in a bit.
South Africa innings closed: 142-3 from 20 overs
20th over: South Africa 142-3 (De Villiers 65, Behardien 64). Jordan’s last over begins with a low full toss, pushed through the off for a single by Behardien. It brings De Villiers to the strike, and he treats us to what he’s best at – hitting a six that never looks on, effortlessly swinging across the line at a low full toss and somehow sending it high over the square leg boundary for SIX. Jordan comes back well with an attempted yorker. De Villier adds a two and a one, which means Behardien faces the final ball of the innings, which he can only carve out to deep extra cover for one.
Updated
19th over: South Africa 131-3 (De Villiers 56, Behardien 62). Belatedly, South Africa cut loose – their best over of the innings. An excellent dive on the deep backward point boundary from Billings prevents Wood’s final over from starting with a four but his subsequent one does go to the boundary, Behardien reaching his half-century with a club through the onside. It gets better for South Africa next up, a textbook lofted straight drive for SIX. A miscued hook still brings Behardien two more. These two have now added 99.
18th over: South Africa 116-3 (De Villiers 56, Behardien 47). Jordan is brought back into the attack, and starts expertly by spotting De Villiers stepping back to leg and just sending a wide straight one beyond his grasp on the offside. Two fine yorkers then yield two singles and a couple more singles – Roy diving well at mid-off to prevent one of them being a four – is all that South Africa can eke out from an excellent over. Top notch death bowling.
17th over: South Africa 112-3 (De Villiers 54, Behardien 45). De Villiers tries to have a go at Willey, advancing down the pitch and smiting it one-handed to long-on but it only gets a single. Behardien tries to advance too but is felled by a ball that cannons into his midriff off his inside edge. Ouch. Another quarter-chance is offered with a slog square on the legside that bounces just short of the advancing Crane, before De Villiers finally does clear the boundary, stepping back, going down on one knee and hammering it square on the legside for SIX to bring up his 50. He has 54 from 50 balls.
Updated
16th over: South Africa 102-3 (De Villiers 46, Behardien 43). Wood is back in the attack, and he at least is getting a bit of pace and bounce off this pitch, and it’s fascinating to watch batsman and bowler trying to anticipate one another’s intentions and outwit each other. Behardien pulls him for one and De Villiers bunts another before Behardien manages to get hold of a short, wide delivery, swivelling and hoiking it into the crowd behind deep square leg for SIX, only the second of the innings.
Updated
15th over: South Africa 93-3 (De Villiers 45, Behardien 35). Willey returns, and Behardien picks up two straight away with a legside nudge, before something of a chance goes begging as Behardien hooks high towards the square leg boundary and Crane can’t quite reach it cleanly as it drops down behind him and goes to the ropes for four. Another two singles follow, and South Africa are still struggling for the clean hits. Perhaps this pitch isn’t such a batsman’s paradise – De Villiers’ innings has certainly been unusually orthodox. But he’s still there…
14th over: South Africa 84-3 (De Villiers 44, Behardien 27). What a let off for De Villiers, who is bamboozled by a bit of extra pace and bounce as well as spin from Crane, and top-edges high towards mid-off but it lands before anyone can grab it. After two singles and a brilliant attempted yorker, Crane’s excellent spell ends with a low full toss that De Villiers is finally able to club away to the long-on boundary for four. But Crane ends with decent figures of 0-24 from his four. Promising stuff.
Updated
13th over: South Africa 78-3 (De Villiers 39, Behardien 26). Dawson is going to bowl through, and his final over begins with a cut for two from AB, who’s looking a tad frustrated, as is demonstrated by a grubbed inside-edge hack square on the legside for two – Dawson not allowing him any room again – and the spinner ends with a dot to conclude a very useful spell of 0-17 from four overs. So when will De Villiers unleash carnage?
Dawson bowled every ball to right-handers today - his economy v RHB is 6.74, compared to 8.12 v LHB #ENGvSA
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) June 21, 2017
Updated
12th over: South Africa 73-3 (De Villiers 35, Behardien 25). Crane’s variations have been good, and all underpinned with accuracy and a general absence of loose freebies, though De Villiers steps back to chip one of his googlies artfully through the legside for two. But he’s kept control nicely, and Crane has gone for only 18 from his three overs. Does Morgan keep him on now or save him for later, to keep a bit of variety back for later?
Updated
11th over: South Africa 68-3 (De Villiers 31, Behardien 24). This is all a bit of an old-fashioned middle-overs meander from South Africa – runs but no boundaries. Behardien takes a chancey single off Dawson that almost gets De Villiers run out but he scrambles home. The South Africa captain tries to hit out on the offside but still can only manage two and England aren’t offering them much at all.
10th over: South Africa 62-3 (De Villiers 27, Behardien 22). The Hampshire spin-tandem continues to good effect, and South Africa still can’t clear the in-field, dealing in ones and the odd two off Crane. De Villiers has only three fours to show for his 27 but, crucially, he’s still out there. England will be happy with this at the halfway stage though.
9th over: South Africa 55-3 (De Villiers 25, Behardien 17). Dawson continues, and the strike is rotated for a couple of singles before De Villiers offers up two half-chances, a drive to short mid-off that bounces agonisingly short of Roy and a return to the bowler that bounces just in front of him. But it’s an impressively tight over.
8th over: South Africa 53-3 (De Villiers 24, Behardien 16). Cheers go up as Mason Crane is given his debut over in international cricket. And his first ball for England is a good’un, a sharp leg break that Behardien can only punt away nervily and defensively. A wrong’un then gives him a second dot, but a slash-edged four to third man breaks the spell. A couple of singles are all that the rest of the over yields, and that’s a nervelessly impressive start from the leg-spinner.
Updated
7th over: South Africa 47-3 (De Villiers 23, Behardien 11). The first over after the powerplay sees a change of pace, with the left-arm spinner Dawson on. He’s nice and tight, spearing it into the right-handers and conceding little width. AB makes space to cut for a single square on the offside, but South Africa can only deal in ones, four of them to be precise. This is good stuff from England, though De Villiers’ presence is a concern.
Updated
6th over: South Africa 43-3 (De Villiers 21, Behardien 9). Jordan ups the pace, but Behardien steers a short ball deftly to the third man boundary for four. He’s settled quickly. Two singles and a well-run two follow before a wild throw almost concedes four overthrows but it’s well stopped and is only one. Ten from the over.
“I bet Adil Rashid enjoyed reading Morgan’s comments that he sees Mason Crane as his successor,” writes Tom Van De Gucht. “That’s a bit like picking up the job section of the newspaper and seeing your job being advertised! Or logging into Facebook to see your special lady friend has been posting about a romantic night out with another chap. Not that that’s ever happened to me...”
5th over: South Africa 33-3 (De Villiers 19, Behardien 1). What a great bowler to watch Mark Wood is – speed, with drive and charisma. He changes ends to great effect, dismissing Miller straight away as the left-hander inside edges to the keeper. Pace makes its mark, even on a batsman’s pitch like this, and to prove it Wood greets Behardien with some chin music, thwacking him on the helmet first ball. The new man is off the mark with a pull to deep square leg for one but it’s the only run of the over.
Updated
Wicket! Miller c Buttler b Wood 9, South Africa 32-3
Wood takes a wicket with the first ball of his second over as well! The change of ends works, Miller cut in half by a zippy pacey delivery that takes his inside edge on the way through to Buttler.
Updated
4th over: South Africa 32-2 (De Villiers 19, Miller 9). Chris Jordan is the new bowler, and De Villiers and Miller swap ends briskly with consecutive dabbed singles before some good variations secure three consecutive dot balls, from two slow slower balls and a short angled-in-quicker one. But his slower ball is finally picked from the last ball of the over, which De Villiers cracks high to the long-off boundary for four. Good cricket all round.
Updated
3rd over: South Africa 26-2 (De Villiers 14, Miller 8). More classical stroke-making through the offside from South Africa, this time Miller with an impeccable pose-holding lofted off-drive for SIX off the first ball of Willey’s over. A couple of easy singles follow – England will need to break this pairing before too long and not relinquish the pressure.
2nd over: South Africa 18-2 (De Villiers 13, Miller 1). England go old-school and open with quicks at both ends, Wood starting from the Pavilion End. And he strikes straight away too, Hendricks pulling straight to midwicket. In comes the dangerous Miller, as well as three (count ‘em!) slips from the England captain. Miller dabs a single to get off the mark, and De Villiers follows up with a sumptuous back-foot cut through the offside for four. Proper cricket shot. It’s one of two lovely boundaries through the offside from AB this over.
“I see Smuts is an all-rounder,” quips Scott Thomas, threatening very much to be here all week. “I presume he bowls some filth?”
Wicket! Hendricks c Willey b Wood 3, South Africa 7-2
Wood strikes with his first ball as well! Hendricks pulls a shortish one fiercely to midwicket where Willey plucks it sharply out of the air. Both openers gone already.
Updated
1st over: South Africa 7-1 (Hendricks 3, De Villiers 3). Following a needlessly deafening PA blast of some bombastic landfill indie or other, David Willey, who could do with a big performance here, is tossed the ball first. And you can’t start much better than with a seam-up inswinger first ball that takes the batsmen’s inside edge and clatters into the stumps, making Smuts the first man to be dismissed in the first ball of a South Africa T20 innings. Extraordinary start. The next one swings too, but it strays too far down legside and is called wide. De Villiers gets off the mark with a nudge off his pads. Hendricks is away with a nice back-foot punch through the offside for three. De Villiers then collects a clipped two, but it’s a very good over from Willey, finding some movement and a decent length.
Wicket! Smuts b Willey 0, South Africa 0-1
England strike first ball! The right-hander inside-edges an inswinger from the left-arm Willey onto his stumps.
Updated
Out come the players. These South African openers, Smuts and Hendricks, are relatively callow, with only three and six T20 international appearances behind them respectively, but Smuts in particular can strike the ball hard and true. Let’s see how they go.
Team news
England: Hales, Roy, Bairstow, Morgan, Buttler, Billings, Dawson, Jordan, Willey, Crane, Wood.
South Africa: Hendricks, Smuts, De Villiers, Miller, Behardien, Mosehle, Pretorius, Parnell, Phehlukwayo, Shamsi, Tahir
So Mason Crane does indeed get his chance, with Morgan saying that he sees him as a potential replacement in the longer term for Adil Rashid. It’s a chance for “guys to get a look-in”, this series, says the England captain. Jason Roy also returns after his dismal Champions Trophy.
Updated
South Africa win the toss and bat first
AB De Villiers says the pitch “looks alright”. Say what you see. Eoin Morgan is more effusive, describing it as a “great wicket”.
Updated
“Hi Tom.” Hi Peter Salmon. “I note that Samit Patel has scored his second County double hundred in 10 days, with 122 not out in the One Day Cup Semi-Final in between. I’m calling for his England recall, not because I think he should be brought back, but because we’ve been looking for a new Mark Ramprakash for too long. It gave structure to the summer, wondering if Ramprakash had done enough. Let the debate begin!”
There’s been a few contenders for that role this summer, the discarded England man racking up the runs – see also Sam Robson and Garry Ballance – so if we can just get the spirit of that debate up and running again, we could have an embarrassment of riches. But it also requires selectoral chaos at the top for these arguments to attract interest, and England are a bit too much of an efficient machine in that regard. Funny to think, mind, that Patel played a Test for England as recently as 19 months ago – times move quickly.
While we’re waiting for the toss, some other cricket bits and pieces, such as the County Champions, Middlesex, finally winning a game, Yorkshire coming a cropper at Lord’s once again. Will Macpherson can tell you all about their victory by an innings and 64 runs here:
Meanwhile England’s women beat New Zealand in some style in their World Cup warm-up at Derby, hammering the Black Caps by seven wickets, with Laura Marsh taking three for seven from four overs as New Zealand were dismissed for 130 and Tammy Beaumont thwacking an unbeaten 51 to steer the hosts home in under 28 overs.
Preamble
The bilateral Twenty20 international series is a curious beast. While T20 has transformed the game’s economics, its schedules and its techniques over the past decade, your common or garden international version of the format still has the feel of a tagged-on afterthought. While the IPL may sweep all before it and the World T20 can dazzle, a three-match series crowbarred into the timetable is never really a showpiece event. Stop anyone in the street and ask them to name either of England and South Africa’s most recent T20 results and they’ll stare at you blankly. Mind you, stop anyone in the street and ask them to name anything that’s happened in cricket in the past decade and you might get the same blank gaze, if the bleakest narratives are anything to go by.
Anyway, it’s 21 June, high summer, gloriously/insufferably hot and two talented teams await us. South Africa performed poorly in the Champions Trophy, England did not – until their most important game, in which they were steamrollered by the sport’s most gloriously unpredictable life force. Both these sides also lost their most recent T20 series, South Africa 1-2 at home to Sri Lanka and England by the same score away to India, where they at least performed more creditably than they had in the 50-over and five-day formats during that tour. So, there’ll be some T20 rust to be shaken off today.
And, importantly, some new faces, which is part of what this is all about. England are set to give a debut to the Hampshire leg-spinner Mason Crane, a decision alive with possibility not least because English conditions at Crane’s home venue will never more closely resemble those in the UAE than they do today (did I mention it was a bit hot?) and England may also in this series get a look at other promising talents such as Liam Livingstone, Tom Curran and Craig Overton, as well as Dawid Malan, who seems to have been making respectable piles of runs for Middlesex for decades.
South Africa will be without Faf du Plessis and the wonderfully watchable Kagiso Rabada (who hasn’t played a T20 international this year in any case), both being rested before the Test series, for which this series will also serve as a chance to land some psychological blows. Mind games, and that.
So, put your feet in a bucket of ice and a hanky over your head, kick back and enjoy.
Play starts at 6.30pm BST.
And while you’re waiting …
Lovely to see Pakistan news channel pick up on Rob Smyth's OBO coverage. Even lovelier they used pic of Tommy Smyth https://t.co/of09TfcnKC
— James Dart (@James_Dart) June 21, 2017
Updated
