Cardiff: Following his side’s 58-run win over England in the second T20I, South African captain David Miller said that the bowlers made things easy for him by picking up wickets.
An all-round show from South Africa led from the front by Rilee Rossouw and spinner Tabraiz Shamsi helped the visitors seal a 58-run win over England in the second T20I of the three-match series at Cardiff on Thursday. “We will take a win.
A good turnaround for us. A great performance. We had one or two meetings to clear up from last night. We picked ourselves up. I am really chuffed with the bowlers. They made it easier for me by picking up wickets. I was not juggling around too much as they executed really well. Massive boundary out there. It was a left-right combination that we had to keep in mind,” said Miller in a post-match presentation.
The three-match series is now level at 1-1.
In the first innings, South Africa put up 207/3 on the board, with Rilee Rossouw smashing an unbeaten 96 off 55 balls with ten fours and five sixes. Reeza Hendricks also played a great knock of 53 off just 32 balls. England could not inflict much damage as spinner Moeen Ali and pacers Richard Gleeson and Chris Jordan could only manage a wicket each.
In the chase of 208 runs, England lost wickets regularly and it never looked as if they posed a threat. Half the team was back in the hut before it could cross the 100-run mark. Contributions did come from skipper Jos Buttler (29), Moeen Ali (28) and Jonny Bairstow (30) but it was not enough to stop the Proteas from securing a 58-run win as the hosts were bowled out for 149. Shamsi (3/27) was the best bowler for South Africa.
Rossouw’s knock of 96* earned him the ‘Man of the Match’ title.
Brief Scores: South Africa: 207/3 (Rilee Rossouw 96*, Reeza Hendricks 53, Moeen Ali 1/17) defeated England: 149 in 16.4 overs (Jonny Bairstow 30, Moeen Ali 28, Tabraiz Shamsi 3/27) by 58 runs.
