England is the world’s No. 1 T20 team in the ICC rankings: Dawid Malan’s 99 undefeated in a record partnership helped England complete a series of 3-0 sweeps over the Proteas with a nine-wicket victory in the KFC T20 International final in Cape Town on Wednesday.
This victory has brought Eoin Morgan’s team to number 1 in the ICC rankings above Australia. India ranks third in the ICC T20 ranking.
Latest ICC T20 rankings – 2020
1) England 25 M – 275 Points
2) Australia 22 M – 275 Points
3) India 35 M – 266 Points
4) Pakistan 26 M – 262 points
5) South Africa 20 M – 252 points
England beat South Africa by 9 Wickets, Malan & Butler in best second wicket partnership
Dawid Malan (99 *) and Jos Butler (67 *) produced the second highest wicket partnership ever at the men’s T20 internationals as they did a short job of chasing 192 to give England a 3-0 win over South Africa in Newlands.
The world’s top-ranked hitter shared a T20I record partnership of 167 with Jos Buttler (67 of 46 balls, 3 fours, 5 sixes) as the tourists completed the highest chase ever at Six Gun Grill Newlands – hunting the 192 target with 14 deliveries to spare.
It was an unfortunate end to the series for the hosts, who did exceptionally well with the bat thanks to Rassie van der Dussen’s career-best 74 of 32 balls (5 fours, 5 sixes) and 52 of 37 balls ( 5 fours, 3 six) by Faf du Plessis, who was in his 50sth appearance for South Africa.
The two achieved 127 uninterrupted for the fourth wicket in 10.3 overs with Van der Dussen’s effort surpassing his previous highest score of 64 against Sri Lanka at Centurion in 2018/19.
His third run 50 was well supported by a 10th Du Plessis’s half-century career as the pair surpassed the fourth-window record of 110 for South Africa that had been set by AB de Villiers and Farhaan Behardien against England at Southampton in 2017.
But without the injured Kagiso Rabada, who was subsequently ruled out of the next one-day series due to injury, the home attack worked hard and ultimately succumbed to his worst loss of the series despite racking up his highest total.
Captain Quinton de Kock had previously won his first pitch of the series and opted to hit first.
But the trend from the previous two games continued when the wickets fell from the beginning: the pattern came out by 17, followed by Temba Bavuma (32) and Reeza Hendricks (13).
Van der Dussen and Du Plessis, however, made amends and, after a slow start to their partnership, broke loose, demolishing England’s attack.
They took 84 runs from the final five overs, the most ever conceded by Eoin Morgan’s team in a T20I, on their way to 191 for three.
But the visitors were ruthless in response. Aside from Anrich Nortje (1/37) catching Jason Roy in the leg before the wicket for 16, and George Linde (0/26) sending a neat four overs, not much else went the way of the South Africans.
Rabada’s replacement Sipamla, who played his first competitive game since March, was 45 in 2.4 overs, while the usually tight-fisted Tabraiz Shamsi conceded 57 in his four overs as Malan, who crashed five sixes and 11 fours in his blitz of 47 balls, and Buttler cut loose.
In the end, England ended things by claiming their most comfortable victory of the series and beating the record score of 183, which they recorded in the opening game, to win a game by batting second at Newlands.
Men’s tour from England to South Africa
KFC T20 Series
1S t KFC T20I England won by 5 wickets
2North Dakota KFC T20I England won by 4 wickets
3rd KFC England won by 9 wickets
Betway ODI Series
Friday, December 4 at 4:30 PM IST
1S t Betway ODI (CWCSL) South Africa v England, Six Gun Grill Newlands, Cape Town
Sunday, December 6 at 1:30 pm IST
2North Dakota Betway ODI (CWCSL): South Africa v England, Eurolux Boland Park, Paarl
Wednesday, December 9 at 4:30 pm IST
3rd Betway ODI (CWCSL): South Africa v England, Six Gun Grill Newlands, Cape Town
Where will the ODI series be broadcast and live-streamed between England and South Africa? The ODI Series between South Africa and England will be played at 4:30 PM IST. Watch the broadcast LIVE on Star Sports Network. The live broadcast of the SA vs Eng ODI series will be available on Disney + Hotstar.
