England beat South Africa by five wickets with four balls to spare in their first encounter at Six Gun Grill Newlands on Friday, and it’s now the perfect time to reflect on some of the defining moments during the game, writes Marc Jacobson.

That costly 17th over

Beuran Hendricks’ inclusion in the side had surprised many before the game, but if his recent domestic performances were anything to go by, it was optimistically felt he did deserve a shot at the highest level, albeit in a different format.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t his day and his fourth over with the ball – the Proteas 17th over – was quite clearly the turning point of the match.

Hendricks expended a whopping 28 runs in that over, including three wides, one of which ran for a four after the ball hadn’t even pitched on the wicket. That over changed the whole momentum of the game and from there on England were never going to lose.

The 30-year-old, who played in his 14th T20I yesterday, was smashed for 56 runs in his allotted four overs, calculating a dismal economy rate of 14.00. One wonders why Anrich Nortje, who was one of the primordial death bowlers during the recent IPL, was left out the side.

Proteas varied bowling attack worked well

As the wicket started responding and becoming heavier as the night’s dew started settling in the last five overs of the first innings, the Proteas were clever with the way in which they varied their bowling attack at the start of their chase.

They opened with debutant spinner George Linde, which was a risky option but had paid off. Linde only gave away two runs in that over and managed to capture the wicket of Jason Roy. The firing pacer Kagiso Rabada then followed and only conceded two runs in the second over.

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Hendricks and Lungi Ngidi then bowled the ensuing overs and the latter managed to bamboozle the English on occasions with his variation of bounce, pace and swing.

Linde had a debut to remember after having taken two wickets with a low economy rate of 5.00 – the lowest of the game – and having caught out danger man Ben Stokes on the boundary. Tabraiz Shamsi bowled in tandem with Linde and also did a decent job at that with his different style of spin. 

South Africa managed to keep England at bay for the whole innings and it looked as though these variations may have paid off in the long run. But unfortunately, of course, that prospect ended in that disastrous 17th over where England righteously overtook proceedings.

Inconsistencies in the top order

The Proteas showed a lot of promise in their batting spell and projected a competitive total of 179/6, but there are still some inconsistencies existing in their line-up that tend to splinter their innings.

Temba Bavuma and skipper Quinton de Kock opened proceedings and, after hitting a decent four, the former went for an unwise scoop shot in the first over which was caught by the keeper. Bavuma had a great start to his T20I career, but he didn’t live up to that yesterday.

De Kock and Faf du Plessis then settled into a steady rhythm and amassed a solid partnership of 77, the second-highest of the day behind Man-of-the-Match Jonny Bairstow’s and Stokes’ combination of 85.

Du Plessis looks to be a rejuvenated cricketer after coming under fire several times last year. The captaincy role being lifted from his shoulders seems to have done wonders for his personal game as he scored an impressive 58 off 40 balls.

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As De Kock departed for a modest 30 after a half-hearted shot got him caught at mid-off, so did Du Plessis four overs later, which saw another glitch occurring in SA’s batting order. 

Heinrich Klaasen went for a thoughtless swipe at a bouncer which nicked the ball and sent it straight into the keeper’s gloves.

These avoidable wickets at crucial times tend to cost a team’s momentum of building unreachable innings. On the contrary, Bairstow, helped largely by Stokes, essentially got England home without falling victim to any hiccups. 

Bairstow finished with a brilliant unbeaten 86 off 48 balls and deserved his post-match accolades.

Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix

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