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England’c cricketers actually put on a decent, entertaining and exciting Twenty20 game for once, as they faced South Africa in the first of two Twenty20 internationals. Helped by a bit of English luck, otherwise known as the rain, England held on a victory via the Duckworth/Lewis method, winning the game by one run. England batted first and they posted their highest over Twenty20 total of 202-6. Man of the moment for England was Eoin Morgan, who has had his critics but now and again shows what he can do with the bat. His 85 not out, came in just 45 balls, and was the highest individual score by an England player in Twenty20. Jonathan Trott, made an early apperance as opener Joe Denly was skittled out first ball of the match, and Trott made a steady 33 to get the innings going.

Captain Paul Collingwood also led with a fine display, hitting 57 from 32 balls, and the performance with the bat was a marked improvement from their only Twenty20 warm up match in which they failed miserably against South Africa A. Whenever England do well with the bat on a wicket, there is always a thought at the back of the mind, that if England can score a lot, then what will a genuinely good team like South Africa do? Despite it seeming a huge total, South Africa started firing away quickly. They reached just short of a hundred in only nine overs and if the match had been stopped one over earlier, they would have been ahead on the Duckworth/Lewis.

But it wasn’t to be, and they needed 8 off the 13th over to keep their noses in front. Jimmy Anderson was the man bowling for England, and he managed to contain the South African batsmen, who were AB de Villiers and big hitting Albie Morkel to just six. That left them on 127-3, one run short of salvaging a tie. Although it did not really play out to a satisfying conclusion, it did at least produce a pulsating and exciting match for the spectators, something which bodes well for the rest of the winter tour in South Africa. England, historically are not a good Twenty20 or ODI team, and maybe that spark will be the one that is needed to really contest against the best in the world with a settled team.

South Africa v England Second Twenty20 Match
South Africa: 8/15 at Stan James
England: 9/5 at Sporting Bet

Eoin Morgan top England batsman: 6/1 at Stan James

Betting Advice: South Africa won’t have taken that result lightly, as there seemed to be some misunderstanding by the men out in the middle as to how many runs they needed. Regardless, there will be a plan to get rid of Trott and Morgan especially on Sunday. The Proteas will come out firing to try and stop England building any kind of momentum ahead of the ODIs. This is where the South Africans are probably at their most dangerous.