NOW BRING ON THE WORLD!
ENGLAND CLINCH T20 SERIES IN SOUTH AFRICA
ENgLAND showcased the brutal hitting yesterday they believe can unify international cricket’s two world titles later this year.
In a slugfest in the thin air of Centurion, and on a pitch resembling those they will find in Australia for the Twenty20 World Cup in October, they kept landing punches in a chase which went down as the second biggest in their history.
Eoin Morgan struck the third of three 50s by the tourists’ top order, taking just 21 balls to reach the mark to equal his own England record. The last of his seven sixes took his team to a 15-13 win on maximums and brought the scores level with an over to spare.
After Moeen Ali had completed the formalities of a five-wicket win that sealed a 2-1 series success, Morgan insisted there was no ceiling to his ambitions.
‘Overcoming challenges like that is a huge satisfaction for me as captain and everybody within the changing room,’ said Morgan, whose decision to extend his international career beyond the 50- over World Cup win last summer has been vindicated by his performances this winter.
‘It creates belief that you can chase down anything and gives us confidence in our method. There is no restriction on what we can achieve. No limit.’
England had failed to win any of their last four matches when batting second in this format, so the pressure was on after Quinton de Kock won the toss and tested the mettle of a team that had somehow flunked in the opening match in East London when seven runs were required from as many deliveries.
That had been Morgan’s fault, holing out at long-on instead of playing the situation.
Here, he took control to settle what in Twenty20 terms was a comprehensive win, leaving five deliveries unused in a pursuit of 223. Only against South Africa at the 2016 World Cup has an England side knocked off more.
Despite bat dominating ball throughout the contest, the chase was getting away from England when, with 59 required off 25 balls, Morgan walloped Dale Steyn over long-off.
It was the pivotal moment. Ben Stokes weighed in with consecutive blows into the stands on the on-side off Andile Phehlukwayo as England charged home.
Even when Stokes holed out off the series’ most prolific bowler, Lungi Ngidi, to leave 17 required off 11, there was no stumble. Morgan continued to use the crease to create leverage positions to propel the ball skywards.
The chase had been set up by Jos Buttler, who scored at a rate touching two a ball despite lacking fluency, and Jonny Bairstow, the second-wicket pair combining in a stand of 91 in eight overs.
When they fell trying to improvise, it left Morgan to show why he is now arguably the most feared late-innings hitter in world cricket behind Andre Russell.
South Africa’s biggest T20 score of 241 for six came against England on this same ground just over 10 years ago, and when Temba Bavuma and De Kock were in tandem at the start of this deciding contest, it appeared an upgrade was on the cards.
But the mid-innings combination of Stokes and Adil Rashid checked the momentum with three wickets in 20 minutes.
It meant the South Africans had to rebuild briefly before returning their foot to the floor through Heinrich Klaasen, recalled on his home ground, and the Proteas’ finisher David Miller.
Klaasen put local knowledge to good use by hitting a half-century off just 25 balls. Such was Mark Wood’s concern about feeding Klaasen’s hitting arc, in fact, that he lost his radar in a nine-ball over that cost 23 runs.
Ultimately, though, this was not a good day to be a bowler as England showed their World Cup rivals exactly how much muscle they possess.