Bairstow, Sam Curran power England to victory in the first T20I

England tour of South Africa 2020, 3-math T20I series, First T20I, South Africa vs England - England won by 5 wickets

Friday, Nov 27, 2020, Newlands, Cape Town

After being sent into bat first, South Africa rode on the partnership between Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis to put on a solid platform. The duo added 77 runs for the second wicket after losing opener Temba Bavuma in just the first over of the match. 14 runs from the 4th over bowled by Jofra Archer and 24 runs from the 5th over bowled by Tom Curran gave the hosts much needed momentum during the powerplay overs.

Image Credits: The Sun

Once the duo departed, South Africa found it hard to get the momentum during the middle overs. With a little burst during the death overs from van der Dussen (37 off 28), South Africa managed to get to 179/6 in 20 overs. The total was surely competitive but they are 15 to 20 runs short in the end with the momentum they got in the early overs. Sam Curran was the pick of England bowlers with 3 wickets in his 4 overs.

Chasing 180 to win, England lost three wickets inside powerplay and that pushed them on to their backfoot. However, Jonny Bairstow who walked in at no. 4 kept his cool throughout taking his side to a comfortable victory. His 85-run stand with Ben Stokes for the fourth wicket turned things in favor of England. And the 28-run over bowled by Bueran Hendricks (17th over) helped England pocket the game quite comfortably!

Unbeaten Bairstow helped England win the game with 5 wickets in hand and 4 balls to spare in their innings. South African debutant George Linge was the pick of their bowlers with 2 for 20 in his 4 overs. Lungi Ngidi (2/31) and Tabraiz Shamsi (1/27) are the other wicket takers in Proteas line-up.

Jonny Bairstow bagged the 'Player of the Match' award for his superb unbeaten half-century in this victory. With this 5-wicket victory, England took a lead of 1-0 in the three-match series. The second T20I of the series will be played at Boland Park in Paarl on Sunday (Nov 29).

Brief Scores: England - 183/5 in 19.2 overs (Jonny Bairstow - 86*, Ben Stokes - 37, George Linde - 2/20, Lungi Ngidi - 2/31) defeated South Africa - 179/6 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis - 58, van der Dussen - 37, Sam Curran - 3/28, Jofra Archer - 1/28) by a margin of 5 wickets