That’s it from me. I’ll leave you with Simon Burnton’s report from Bristol. Goodnight!
The player of the match is Moeen Ali
“Jonny and I get on really well, and we bat well together. It’s a great wicket here and a great-sized ground. I’m not a massive hitter of the ball like some of the other guys, so it’s about keeping my shape. If you get a good connection it usually travels here.”
Jos Buttler’s verdict
“That’s what we’ve been looking for, to get a complete performance. We posted a good total – but it looked under threat for a while. Tristan Stubbs played fantastically well. We’re delighted with the win.
“It’s fantastic to welcome Jonny back into the team – what a summer he’s having - and Dawid Malan has been very consistent. Moeen is always someone you’re looking to give more and more responsibility to; he’s been a bit stuck sometimes because there are so many other guys who can bat in the top order as well. We want to get Mo up there as much as we can.
“[Jordan and Gleeson] bowled with great pace tonight. The 18th over that CJ bowled was fantastic and really changed the momentum of the whole game.”
David Miller’s verdict
“It was a phenomenal knock from Stubbsy, showing the depth that we have in South Africa. They demolished us in the last 10 overs, and we dropped four or five catches in the field which made it more difficult. It was just one of those nights in the field.
“[Tristan Stubbs] is such a clean striker of a ball. He’s got a gift, and it’s really nice to see him doing it on the big stage.”
England win by 41 runs
20th over: South Africa 193-8 (Maharaj 4, Ngidi 1)
Well that was all kinds of fun. There were 427 runs, 29 sixes and memorable innings from Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and especially Tristan Stubbs. Ultimately, the game was settled by a bowler: Chris Jordan, who took a great catch to dismiss David Miller and halted South Africa’s charge with an immaculate 18th over. You wouldn’t know it from figures of 4-0-30-0, but he was one of England’s matchwinners. After a difficult World T20, Jordan has quietly been back to his best this summer.
19th over: South Africa 188-8 (Maharaj 1) A memorable last over from Gleeson, who ends an interesting day’s work with figures of 4-0-51-3.
WICKET! South Africa 188-8 (Phehlukwayo c Rashid b Gleeson 22)
Gleeson gets his third wicket of the over, with Phehlukwayo clipping a full toss to square leg.
WICKET! South Africa 187-7 (Rabada b Gleeson 0)
Gleeson is too fast, too straight, too much for Rabada, whose leg stump is sent flying when he misses a hack across the line.
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WICKET! South Africa 184-6 (Stubbs c Roy b Gleeson 72)
Game over. Tristan Stubbs drives Gleeson to long off to end a quite stunning innings: 72 from 28 balls with eight sixes. He hits the ball so cleanly, and we’ll sure see a lot more of him over the next decade.
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18th over: South Africa 184-5 (Stubbs 72, Phehlukwayo 19) Chris Jordan has bowled a gazillion yorkers in the nets over the years, all for moments like this. He produces a marvellous over, full of near-perfect yorkers, and he concedes only three runs. That should - should - be a matchwinning over.
South Africa need 51 from 12 balls.
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17th over: South Africa 181-5 (Stubbs 70, Phehlukwayo 18) Stubbs lifts Curran high over square leg for his eighth six. This is an amazing innings from a 21-year-old who, though not on debut, is batting for the first time in international cricket.
That aside it was a good over from Curran, including a perfect yorker that brought a precious dot ball. But Stubbs took a single off the last delivery to keep the strike. He is 70 not out. From 25 balls.
#ENGvSA Since Twenty20 internationals began, in 2005, there have been 3,386 team innings. England's today was only the sixth to include 20 sixes, and the first of those to feature as few as nine fours (previous low: 13). And they still haven't got the game in the bag
— Tim de Lisle (@TimdeLisle) July 27, 2022
16th over: South Africa 171-5 (Stubbs 62, Phehlukwayo 16) South Africa are still in this game, especially now that Gleeson’s third over has disappeared for 21.
Phehlukwayo hit the first two balls for four, flicking to fine leg and driving over mid-off, before getting Stubbs on strike. He clipped a full toss through backward square leg for four, clunked a pull that landed safely and then flat-batted a short ball whence it came for six!
Stubbs has 62 from 22 balls, South Africa need 64 from 24.
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15th over: South Africa 150-5 (Stubbs 50, Phehlukwayo 7) Phehlukwayo drives Topley nicely for four, then hands the strike over to Stubbs. He slugs a short ball for six more, just clearing the leaping Livingstone at deep midwicket, and drags a single to complete a remarkable half-century from only 19 balls, with six sixes.
Even after that assault, South Africa need 85 from 30 balls.
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14th over: South Africa 137-5 (Stubbs 43, Phehlukwayo 1) Stubbs, who slog-swept Rashid out of the ground earlier in the over, has 43 from 16 balls. That’s a spectacular rate of scoring at the best of times, never mind in your first innings in international cricket.
WICKET! South Africa 136-5 (Miller c Jordan b Rashid 8)
After more spectacular hitting from Stubbs, the captain David Miller falls cheaply. He drove Rashid to long-off, where Jordan swooped forward to take a brilliant catch with the minimum of fuss. England needed that wicket.
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13th over: South Africa 125-4 (Miller 8, Stubbs 32) Miller survives an optimistic LBW appeal from Jordan; it was comfortably missing leg. England know they still need wickets, because if these two are batting in the 19th over it could be a very close game.
Stubbs gets his fourth six in seven deliveries, muscling Jordan over midwicket. He looks quite a find for South Africa.
“I’m not sure whaybti make of Topley’s mullet,” says Tom Van der Gucht. “Actually, I do - it’s dreadful! Coupled with his gangly physique and tattooed arms, he looks more like an extra from Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome than an England bowler. But then again, I’ve had the same Jamie Theakston-inspired haircut since 1997 and I’m sat in my jim-jams eating sweets and watching him on the BBC whilst he’s arguably strutting round being our bowler of the summer, so I’m pretty sure who’s winning in life.”
My warmest congratulations.
12th over: South Africa 115-4 (Miller 7, Stubbs 24) Stubbs belts Moeen for successive sixes. The first was clubbed down the ground off a low full toss, the second creamed miles over midwicket.
And he makes it three in the over by driving the last ball handsomely over wide mid-off. This is eyecatching stuff from Stubbs, who is batting for the first time in international cricket. He has 24 from 8 balls.
11th over: South Africa 93-4 (Miller 6, Stubbs 3) The impressive Topley gets through a boundaryless over, which shoves the required rate above 15. In a high-scoring game, Topley has outstanding figures of 3-0-16-2.
10th over: South Africa 88-4 (Miller 4, Stubbs 1) South Africa need 147 from the last 10 overs.
WICKET! South Africa 84-4 (Hendricks c Curran b Ali 57)
Moeen almost caught Hendricks off the bowling Curran in the previous over. Looks like there were no hard feelings, because Curran has taken him off Moeen.
Hendricks launched a pull-drive towards cow corner, where Curran ran in to take a comfortable catch.
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9th over: South Africa 83-3 (Hendricks 56, Miller 1) Hendricks swivel-pulls Curran for four to reach a classy half-century from 28 balls. That aside it’s another canny, varied over from Curran, and he’s unfortunate when Hendricks slices the last delivery just short of Moeen at backward point. To compound Curran’s frustration, the ball bounces past Moeen for four.
8th over: South Africa 72-3 (Hendricks 46, Miller 0) That was the last ball of the over. South Africa need 163 from 72 balls.
WICKET! South Africa 72-3 (Klaasen c Jordan b Rashid 20)
Superb stuff from Adil Rashid. After conceding a single off each of his first five deliveries - England will take that all night - he had Klaasen caught by Jordan at long-on. That’s a timely wicket for England. It was slightly shorter from Rashid, and Klaasen clunked it straight to the fielder.
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7th over: South Africa 67-2 (Hendricks 43, Klaasen 18) Hendricks, who is timing the ball so sweetly, picks up Gleeson for a big six over square leg. Klaasen then gets a couple of boundaries, one driven and one pulled, to make it a very good over for South Africa: 17 from it. South Africa are still in this game.
“How accurate is the speed gun being used today?” says Tom Van der Gucht. “It clocked Gleeson bowling 91mph in that last over and Topley hitting 87. I’m afraid I don’t know too much about Gleeson, but with England’s obsession with finding then breaking speed merchants, I’m surprised he’s not played before this summer at his respective age. Also, I thought Topley was more of a low 80’s operator. Is this like the Ashes 2005 where we pimped up the speeds whenever England bowled and down for the Aussies in some high-tech sledging?”
Those speeds sound about right. Gleeson is a late bloomer, and he has been on England’s radar for a while. The reason he has been picked now is that Archer, Wood and Stone are all unavailable. But who knows – I can recall the speedgun at Lord’s in 1996 saying Mark Ealham was faster than Wasim Akram.
6th over: South Africa 50-2 (Hendricks 35, Klaasen 9) An attempted yorker from Chris Jordan is spanked back over his head by Hendricks, who is into his work now. He swishes the next delivery over midwicket for his seventh boundary, and then Klaasen works an errant delivery to fine leg. Fourteen from the over.
5th over: South Africa 36-2 (Hendricks 26, Klaasen 4) Richard Gleeson, who made a thrilling debut against India earlier in the month, comes into the attack. His first ball is a beauty that takes Klaasen’s outside edge and is dropped by Buttler, a sharp chance to his right as he changed direction.
Hendricks edges over the vacant slip cordon for four and then slaps a short ball over backward point for another boundary. That was a lively first over from Gleeson, even if he did go for nine. South Africa need 198 from 90 balls.
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4th over: South Africa 27-2 (Hendricks 17, Klaasen 3, possibly) Hendricks gets his third boundary, driving Topley pleasantly past extra cover. At least I think he does: the scoring seems to be all over the show, so I now have no idea how many each batter has. But I do know South Africa are 27 for two.
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3rd over: South Africa 19-2 (Hendricks 12, Klaasen 1) Hendricks clips Curran past short fine leg for four, then drives expansively over mid-off for another. Good shot.
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.
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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.
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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.
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The players are back out on the field, and the six-hitting is about to resume.
Innings break
20th 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.
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WICKET! 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.
South 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, 2x4, 6x6.
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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.
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16th 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.
It 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.
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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.
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13th 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.
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11th 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.
Great catch! 👏👏👏
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) July 27, 2022
📺 Watch live on @BBCTwo and @BBCiPlayer
📲💻 Updates and highlights on the @BBCSport website and apphttps://t.co/MCDAQWBRe8#BBCCricket #ENGvSA pic.twitter.com/h6cP5W21pp
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The new batter is Geoff Capes
Jonny Bairstow lifting Sam Curran 😂😂😂
— England’s Barmy Army (@TheBarmyArmy) July 26, 2022
📹 IG: reecejtopley pic.twitter.com/HwVH7l6wVr
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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.
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4th 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.
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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.
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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.
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2nd 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.
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“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…”
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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 teams
England 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.
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South Africa win the toss and bowl
Jos 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
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Preamble
Right, 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.
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