Today the Proteas, who elected to bat, would have been pleased with the way De Villiers blazed his way to his eighth T20 half century in his inimitable style to help South Africa muscle their way to their second 200-plus score on the trot. He was supported by Faf du Plessis after the South African opener Hashim Amla fell early in the third over.
Advertisement
Quinton de Kock remained the second high scorer for South Africa by making 45 runs, Faf du Plessis made 41 runs, David Miller made 19 runs, JP Duminy remained not out after scoring 29 runs with David wiese who made no runs. Having missed out last Friday, AB de Villiers was intent on getting among the runs and begun his innings with a bit more caution than he has done of late.
De Villiers took Rashid Khan for four sixes and a four in his 29-ball 64 to propel the Proteas to 209-5.
Jean-Paul Duminy, who played an important all-round part for South Africa by striking a brisk 28-ball 54 and then snapping 1 for 31, said that his team needs to put the defeat behind and focus on the match against Afghanistan.
This didn’t stop Roy from playing his shots as the right-handed batsman took on the bowling striking five fours and three sixes before giving his wicket away in the fifth over leaving his team at 71/2. This was in contrast to the first five overs that saw 11 fours and no six. It was keeper de Kock who took the catch for the dismissal.
They were bowled out for 172 runs, but their batting display is something the side can be proud off. Du Plessis had left Dale Steyn out of this fixture, but the move did not make any significant difference, as South Africa would now want to get their bowling back on track.
Du Plessis hoped his bowlers would fare better with South Africa now moving to the relatively slower wickets of Nagpur and New Delhi, where batsmen might find it more hard to score freely. We have to pretty much win every game from now.
The lanky Morris showed good control to finish with four wickets, earning him the player of the match award, while leg-spinner Imran Tahir and fast bowlers Abbott and Kagiso Rabada all picked up two wickets each. “I wanted us to show a bit of intensity with the ball and show a little bit of “we are supposed to be bowling a lot better than that” attitude”. Among the Afghan bowlers, Amir hamza, Dawlat Zadran, Mohammad Nabi each managed a wicket.
A total of 138/3 after 16 overs was an insult to South Africa’s strong batting line-up, particularly when de Villiers was at the crease.
Advertisement
Opting to bat first, South Africa made a promising start, with opener Quinton De Kock scoring a blistering knock of 45 runs to provide his side with an initial thrust. Noor Ali Zadran (25), Gulbadin Naib (26) and Samiullah Shenwari (25) were the other substantial contributors to the Afghan total.
