But in the end it was that man Morris who once again had the final say. There’s one thing in common with all of them: there is no celebration.
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“I think we probably lost the game with the bat. Looking at it from that point of view, it’s a huge plus”.
Morgan said it would be “very unfair” to criticise Topley.
A dot ball followed but Morris then managed two runs off both of the final two deliveries as bowler Topley failed with a pair of run-out chances, the second especially bad after a good throw from Root.
Morris hammers a full toss over the off side for four. Topley dropped the ball to lose the game for England as Abbott dived full-length to make his ground.
The 21-year-old left-arm seamer was furious with himself.
After two rain interruptions, the chase could not be resumed a second time, and South Africa’s 145 for three in 17.2 overs comfortably set up a Johannesburg decider on Sunday.
“I see these games just about giving most of the guys game time”, he said. “It gives us a massive amount of confidence”. We didn’t play as well as we can, but still got across that line – which is a huge credit to us.
“He has great skill, and he keeps delivering”.
Jordon then strangled the Proteas further with a double strike in the penultimate over, the South Africa looked vulnerable to choke. England had reached 50 from their opening six overs, but suffered a frustrating middle-order collapse as Joe Root was removed for just eight with the very next delivery after chopping an off-cutter from David Wiese to Rilee Rossouw.
“If people look at it, people will say our batting is our strongest suit”, Jordan said.
“We’ll take a lot of confidence from that. We’re pretty confident within ourselves, as a bowling unit”. Even as he made inroads into South Africa’s batting line-up, Jordan was wary of the hosts’ T20 experience and expertise.
Knight offered bold support, striking the first six of the game over wide long on to take England to 107-3 off 15 overs before she picked out Marizanne Kapp in the deep off Shabnim Ismail when trying to clear the rope again. “I felt both teams didn’t play their best”.
South Africa stepped up and eventually found a way to seal the deal in a tight finish.
Faf du Plessis (25) and Duminy (23) propelled the Proteas to 76-2 in the 13th over, but when the batsmen, who added 41 for the third wicket, each lashed to long-on, South Africa’s innings began to unravel.
South Africa have taken a 1-0 lead in the Twenty20 global series against England thanks to a dramatic three-wicket victory at Newlands. South Africa will open their campaign against England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 18th.
“Neither team played their best because the wicket was two-paced and not a normal T20 wicket, but I have a smile on my face because we won”. For us, it’s mentally a step in the right direction.
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Moeen Ali is swinging this contest towards England here!
