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2nd over: South Africa 7-2 (Hendricks 1, Klaasen 0) “When you wrote ‘it’s not beyond the realms’ I imagined Withnail in the pub replying, ‘What flocker said that?’” says Ian Copestake. “Very foolish words, my friend.”
After two overs, I feel 98 per cent fool.
WICKET! South Africa 7-2 (Rossouw c Gleeson b Topley 4)Another one for Topley! Rilee Rossouw, playing his first T20 international since March 2016, slugged a boundary but then top-edged a short ball towards third man. Richard Gleeson ran in to take a good catch.
WICKET! South Africa 3-1 (de Kock c Malan b Topley 2)Reece Topley strikes with his second ball! The dangerous Quinton de Kock slaps a short ball straight to cover, where Malan takes a sharp catch.
1st over: South Africa 3-0 (de Kock 2, Hendricks 1) Sam Curran opens the bowling, pitching the ball up in pursuit of swing – so far up that he bowls a couple of full tosses. He gets away with both, and there are only three runs from a useful first over. The required rate has already zipped above 12.
The players are back out on the field, and the six-hitting is about to resume.
Innings break20th over: England 234-6 (Curran 1, Jordan 0) A superb last over from Ngidi – just seven from it – and he finishes with surely unique figures of 4-0-39-5.
South Africa need 235 to win. On this pitch, it’s not beyond the realms.
WICKET! England 233-6 (Bairstow c Roussow b Ngidi 90)At the fifth time of asking, Jonny Bairstow is taken in the deep. He goes for a savage 52-ball 90, with eight sixes. And amid the mayhem, Lungi Ngidi has picked up a five-for.
South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw takes a catch to dismiss England’s Jonny Bairstow. Photograph: Geoff Caddick/AFP/Getty ImagesSouth Africa’s Lungi Ngidi celebrates after taking the wicket of Jonny Bairstow (left). Photograph: Simon Marper/PABairstow responds to the crowd’s applause as he reaves the field. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/ReutersWICKET! England 232-5 (Livingstone c de Kock b Ngidi 5)Livingstone is caught behind, throwing the bat at a short one from Ngidi. Three balls remaining. Bairstow is on 90 but he’s off strike at the moment.
19th over: England 227-4 (Bairstow 90, Livingstone 1) This is now Baristow’s highest T20I score. But he’ll want more, specifically a century, and he moves closer by pulling Rabada for six.
A beautiful yorker from Rabada misses Bairstow’s off stump by this much. The six aside, that’s an outstanding over from Rabada. He finishes with 4-0-30-0, which in the context of this game is positively parsimonious.
18th over: England 218-4 (Bairstow 82, Livingstone 0) England have now hit 19 sixes, three short of the T20I record set by Afghanistan.
“So,” says Brendan Large, “Bairstow is both undroppable and uncatchable.”
WICKET! England 218-4 (Ali c de Kock b Ngidi 52)Ngidi returns, and Bairstow is dropped for the fourth time! This was a more difficult chance for Klaasen, swooping to his left at deep square leg, and the ball went through him to the boundary for four.
The crowd react as South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen drops a catch off England’s Jonny Bairstow. Photograph: Geoff Caddick/AFP/Getty ImagesSouth Africa are all over the show. Ngidi bowls a front-foot no-ball, which means another free hit, and then a wide, which means another free hit. Moeen chips that one into the crowd at midwicket to reach a remarkable half-century from 16 balls – the fastest in England’s T20 history.
Moeen falls later in the over, snicking behind for 52. It was a delightful knock: 18 balls, 2×4, 6×6.
17th over: England 201-3 (Bairstow 73, Ali 46) The increasingly rampant Bairstow pings Phehlukwayo for successive sixes. The first flew over midwicket, the second went into the car park at square leg. “It was a like a shotgun off the bat!” coos Eoin Morgan on commentary.
A fearful Phehlukwayo follows those sixes with back-to-back off-side wides, and then Bairstow is dropped again! This is absurd. He carted a wide slower ball straight down the ground, but Hendricks put down the simplest of catches.
An extraordinary over concludes with Moeen hitting three sixes in a row: a delightful drive over extra cover, a top-edged pull over short fine leg and an effortless straight drive. Moeen has 46 from 15 balls! Thirty-three from the over.
“There is still time (before he finally has a good innings) for us to say that we need to talk about Moeen,” says Ian Copestake, who only wrote than an over ago. I do like Moeen in the T20 side, less so in the ODIs, but I don’t have much time to elaborate because every second ball is going into the crowd.
A spectator celebrates after catching a ball from England’s batsman Moeen Ali’s stroke shot. Photograph: David Cliff/AP16th over: England 168-3 (Bairstow 60, Ali 26) The young allrounder Tristan Stubbs comes on to bowl some occasional offspin. Poor sod: his third ball is beasted down the ground for six by Bairstow, and then Rossouw drops a straightforward low chance running in from deep midwicket. That’s Bairstow’s second reprieve of the night.
Whoops. Photograph: Graham Hunt/ProSports/ShutterstockIt gets worse for Stubbs when he bowls a no-ball that Moeen hits for six more. He pumps the resulting free hit down the ground for two, which makes it 20 from the over. The South African spinners have combined figures of 8-0-100-0.
15th over: England 148-3 (Bairstow 50, Ali 19) Moeen pulls Phehlukwayo into the crowd at square leg, the 11th six of the innings. He drags the next ball for four, expertly bisecting the men at deep midwicket and long on.
A good over for England ends with Bairstow driving a single to reach a punishing half-century from 36 balls. He’s having the summer of his life.
14th over: England 134-3 (Bairstow 48, Ali 8) The South African captain David Miller gambles by bringing Shamsi back for a third over. Wrong! Bairstow monsters another short ball to cow corner for six, and there are 14 runs for the over. Shamsi’s figures are grisly: 3-0-49-0.
The flames erupt after a six from Jonny Bairstow of England. Photograph: Graham Hunt/ProSports/Shutterstock13th over: England 120-3 (Bairstow 38, Ali 6) Moeen gets his first boundary, pulling Rabada elegantly behind square for four. In international games on this ground, Moeen Ali averages 154 with a strike of 159. He made an amazing hundred against West Indies in 2017, which was overshadowed by Ben Stokes’ brawl early the following morning.
12th over: England 112-3 (Bairstow 36, Ali 0) That was the last ball of the over.
WICKET! England 112-3 (Malan c de Kock b Phehlukwayo 43)Six, four and out for Dawid Malan. He played two beautiful shots, launching Phehlukwayo into the crowd at midwicket and then over extra cover, but drove at the next delivery and snicked it through to de Kock. Malan goes for a stylish 43 from 23 balls.
Andile Phehlukwayo of South Africa (left) celebrates taking the wicket of Dawid Malan with his team-mates. Photograph: Ashley Western/Shutterstock11th over: England 101-2 (Malan 33, Bairstow 35) Another superb over from Maharaj, who restricts England to only three singles. He finishes with slightly unjust figures of 4-0-31-0.
10th over: England 98-2 (Malan 32, Bairstow 33) It’s fair to say England are targetting Shamsi. His first over went for 14; the second has disappeared for 21.
Malan chipped the first ball elegantly over extra cover for six, with the ball landing on the boundary sponge. Bairstow heaved a boundary to the same area, cow corner for him, and then pulled a huge six over square leg.
That’s drinks.
9th over: England 77-2 (Malan 25, Bairstow 21) An excellent third over from Maharaj yields only four singles for England. It feels like they need at least 200 here.
8th over: England 73-2 (Malan 23, Bairstow 19) The left-arm legspinner Tabraiz Shamsi comes into the attack. His first ball is a long hop that Malan belts flat and hard over midwicket for six. Malan might not be the world’s No1 batter any more but he still has an extraordinary record: he averages 42 with a strike rate of 138.
Later in the over Bairstow pulls viciously towards deep midwicket, where Klaasen loses the ball and lets it go over his right shoulder for six. It would have been a comfortable catch had he not lost sight of it.
7th over: England 59-2 (Malan 16, Bairstow 12) After five more low-risk singles, Bairstow signals the start of an unofficial Powerplay by carting Maharaj’s delivery over wide long-on for six.
6th over: England 48-2 (Malan 13, Bairstow 4) The loss of the openers, and a longish tail, means England need to regroup for a few minutes. That allows Andile Phehlukwayo to come into the attack and get away with a pretty cheap over – five singles from it.
“Isn’t it time to give another opener a go,” says James Burgess. “I appreciate Roy has credit but have you ever seen a T20 international opener more out of form. It’s just painful. Roy is feast or famine.”
Ah, but as Eoin Morgan might say: the longer the famine goes on, the closer we are to the feast. (Or to a reluctant acceptance that the famine is now permanent, and therefore you should retire.)
5th over: England 43-2 (Malan 10, Bairstow 2) A terrific over from Ngidi – four runs, one wicket.
Meanwhile, here’s that fantastic catch from David Miller to dismiss Jos Buttler.
The new batter is Geoff Capes
WICKET! England 41-2 (Roy c Klaasen b Ngidi 8)A horrible cameo from Jason Roy is over. He was done by a classy slower ball from Ngidi and sliced it high in the air to backward point. Roy’s poor run continues with a 15-ball 8.
Lungi Ngidi of South Africa (right) celebrates with Rilee Rossouw after he gets Jason Roy of England out. Photograph: Nathan Stirk/ECB/Getty Images4th over: England 39-1 (Roy 6, Malan 9) Malan picks up Rabada over midwicket for six, a startling shot off only his third delivery. Roy then survives a run-out chance after playing tip and run into the covers. There’s an argument, slightly cruel though it is, that it’s a blessing for South Africa that the throw missed the stumps. Roy is struggling a bit and has seven from 13 balls.
3rd over: England 29-1 (Roy 5, Malan 1) “Apparently Jason Roy is not far from finding his best form,” says Brian Withington. “I’m not entirely sure it’s worth the wait. Bairstow and/or Root as openers for me. I expect he’ll score a brutal fifty now.”
I think it’s definitely worth the wait. After all, they wouldn’t have the 50-over World Cup without him, and they might have won the T20 World Cup had he not missed the semi-final through injury. He’s also had these fallow periods throughout his career. That said, they can’t wait forever, and there about 25 cabs on the rank.
WICKET! England 28-1 (Buttler c Miller b Ngidi 22)David Miller takes an outstanding catch to dismiss Jos Buttler! One captain has got rid of the other. Buttler had smacked Ngidi for six and four to move to 22 from six balls, and was looking for another six when he drove Ngidi down the ground. He didn’t quite get hold of this time, and Miller backpedalled frantically from mid-off to take a beautifully judged catch over his right shoulder. That really was a brilliant take, and Buttler goes for a 7-ball 22.
A 7-ball 22! And people still have the effrontery to say we live in a civilised society.
The crowd gasps as England batsmen Jos Buttler is caught by fielder David Miller on the boundary. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images2nd over: England 16-0 (Roy 4, Buttler 12) Kagiso Rabada shares the new ball. Roy, still searching for form, misses a hack on the run and survives an optimistic LBW appeal. Too high. But it’s a cracking over from Rabada, just three from it.
1st over: England 13-0 (Roy 2, Buttler 11) South Africa start with the left-arm spin of Keshav Maharaj, as they did in the ODIs against Jason Roy. He sweeps a single to get off the mark, and then Buttler gets a first-ball boundary after a misfield from Heinrich Klaasen in the covers.
Buttler ends the over with a spectacular six, waved nonchalantly over wide long-on off the back foot.
Here come the players. It’s overcast in Bristol, so there’s a chance the new ball will move around. Or it could just fly to all parts.
England batters Jos Buttler (right) and Jason Roy come out through the flames to bat. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images“Evening Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “On my way home from Edinburgh after today’s T20 between Scotland and New Zealand at the Grange. Atmosphere was, I think understandably, a bit subdued after Monday’s findings of institutionalised racism within Cricket Scotland. Hopefully it will be the start of real and meaningful change.
“As for the cricket itself, Scotland were always up against it after New Zealand posted 225 for five from their 20 overs, but made a decent fist of the chase to lose eventually by 68 runs. Let’s hope for something closer tonight…”
It’s coming home! (reprise)
This is not such a good read. Chris Woakes is 33 now and has had knee problems for years. He has to be a doubt, not just for the T20 World Cup in October but also next year’s defence of the 50-over trophy.
This is a really interesting piece from James Wallace on how cricket, and life, have changed in the age of social media. I’ve never had so much fun reading about a foreign language.
The teamsEngland make three changes from the last T20 against India. Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran and Adil Rashid replace Harry Brook, Phil Salt and David Willey.
Rilee Rossouw plays his first international game since 2016, and the 21-year-old Tristan Stubbs gets another chance.
England Roy, Buttler (c/wk), Malan, Bairstow, Ali, Livingstone, Curran, Jordan, Rashid, Topley, Gleeson.
South Africa de Kock (wk), Hendricks, Rossouw, Klaasen, Miller (c), Stubbs, Phehlukwayo, Rabada, Maharaj, Ngidi, Shamsi.
South Africa win the toss and bowlJos Buttler, who to much mirth dropped the coin as he tried to flip it, said he would have bowled as well. He’s lost seven tosses in a row now.
The boundaries at Bristol are really short, so this should be a very high-scoring game.
54m boundary 😂😂 shame
— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) July 27, 2022 PreambleRight, who’s up for another white-ball series? Tough, because you’re getting one: England v South Africa in a three-match, five-day T20 series. They play in Bristol tonight, Cardiff tomorrow and Southampton on Sunday, when not even a 22-man brawl would steal the back page.
Bilateral series are ephemeral, and not in a good way, but this one isn’t without significance. The World Cup is less than three months away, and both teams are finalising their plans. Or, in England’s case, hastily editing them after the retirement of Eoin Morgan.
His replacement Jos Buttler, England’s ace in T20 cricket, had a poor series against India and will be keen to get back to six-hitting normality, if only to silence the media and the troll in his head. At least he won’t be facing Bhuvneshwar Kumar this time. There are a few doubts over England in white-ball cricket just now. An in-form Buttler, and a series win over South Africa, would banish plenty of them.
A year ago, this would have been a home banker. Now, not so much. South Africa have improved significantly in T20s in the last year or so, winning 15 or their last 19 games. (Before that – and yes I am using arbitrary cut-off points to make the stats a bit more impactful, and yes I know Bill Frindall is probably turning in his grave – they’d won three of the previous 18.)
They beat England at last year’s World Cup, only missing a semi-final place on net run-rate, and recently drew 2-2 away to India. Even without the injured captain Temba Bavuma they look a strong side, especially as Kagiso Rabada is back after being rested for the ODIs. Rilee Rossouw, who walloped 93 off 36 balls for Somerset in the T20 Blast the other week, is also in the squad after a six-year absence.
It’s a good test for both sides, just the kind they need in a World Cup year. See, I’ve almost talked myself into being excited about the series.
Tonight’s match begins at 6.30pm.