Bok 'n' Stroll: South Africa romp to victory in T20 opener
Duminy and Kallis make Stuart Broad's England look like chumps not champs
England looked anything but World Twenty20 champions – and have no chance of defending their title later this month on this evidence.
AB de Villiers’ South Africa outclassed the hosts in the first of three NatWest Series clashes to enhance their reputation as the best current 20-over team on the planet.
But Stuart Broad’s team, who went into the contest on the back of 14 wins in their last 18 Twenty20 matches, flunked horribly with the bat and it took a late rally from the captain and Graeme Swann to clamber them to 118-7 – their third lowest score in Twenty20 internationals.
Just as in the final match of the 50-over campaign between the sides earlier in the week, three quick wickets in the Proteas innings proved a false dawn and veteran Jacques Kallis guided his team home with an over to spare following a 90-run unbroken stand alongside JP Duminy.
The bowlers were simply denied a target to defend as the South African spinners tied the England middle-order in knots – a worrying sign ahead of next week’s trip to Sri Lanka.
“One thing we have to be aware of is that you win games of Twenty20 cricket with numbers seven, eight and nine not batting,” bemoaned Broad.
“Someone has to put their hands up and bat through. If you can be 30-40 not out with three to four overs to go you can really hurt teams.
“Without that it meant we were 20 or 30 runs short – and it’s something we can learn from going forward.”
England began positively thanks to Alex Hales, the man selected to account for the lack of Kevin Pietersen’s chutzpah at the top of the order, but a mix-up with opening partner Craig Kieswetter saw him run out in the fourth over – and the innings imploded.
Although Kieswetter, expected to be named in the Test squad for the first time on Thursday for the winter tour of India, also scored at better than a run a ball
He struck the only six of the entire match, a towering blow off Lonwabo Tsotsobe – but the rest struggled woefully against South Africa’s spinners. Johan Botha ripped one first ball to trap Kieswetter lbw to leave England 40-2 and begin a period of nine overs without a single four.
Ravi Bopara was once again thrust in at number three despite his chronic lack of form, and it was no surprise when the ruthless South Africans greeted his arrival with the return of Dale Steyn to the attack – a nick to the fourth ball ending his misery.
Botha and left-armer Robin Peterson shared four wickets as the hosts slumped to 85-7 and, although Jade Dernbach and Steve Finn reduced South Africa to 29-3 in reply, the lack of pressure told.
“It felt as if we were in control of things the whole time,” said De Villiers ominously, ahead of tomorrow’s second match at Old Trafford.
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