Chittagong: Needing 197 runs to win, England started their chase aggressively scoring 46 in 5 overs. But while at it, they lost Lumb. As the powerplay got over, England had put up 62 on board.
England lost two wickets in the 8th over. By the half-way stage in their inning, England were 92/3 with Buttler and Morgan in the middle. Wayne Parnell took the first three wickets.
Buttler and Morgan were involved in a partnership but that was broken when Imran Tahir dismissed Morgan in the 13th over. Buttler too did not last long as he was caught by Albie Morkel in the 15th over. His was Tahir’s second wicket. When Buttler got out, England were 13.
Ravi Bopara and Jordan could not hit too many boundaries as England were 152 for 5 in 17 overs. England required 34 in last 2 overs with Bopara still in the middle.
But in the final over he was caught in the deep when England were still 22 runs away from the target. From that point, it was very clear England would not win the game. While Steyn gave away 16 runs in last 3 balls, England fell short by 3 runs.
Earlier, England won the toss and elected to bowl first.
While Quinton de Kock struggled to find any rhythm to his batting, his opening partner Hashim Amla was at his best. He cut, chipped down the track and used the depth of the crease to score his first International T20 half-century.
Till the half-way stage South Africa scored 85 runs without losing any wickets.
The match was halted as one of the light towers went off for a while. The game though did not lose any overs and Amla continued his merry ways after the play was resumed. But Amla was run-out in the 11th over after scoring 56 runs.
Quinton de Kock followed his opening partner quickly into the dug-out. Duminy and de Villiers added 22 runs together, but he was run-out. Following Duminy’s dismissal, AB de de Villiers and Miller scored 54 runs in 4.1 overs with de Villiers scoring chunk of the runs.
While Amla scored 56, it was AB de Villiers 28-ball 69 runs that propelled South Africa to 196 runs in their quota of 20 overs.
England captain Stuart Broad won the toss and chose to bowl first in the World Twenty20 match against South Africa on Saturday.
With regular captain Faf Du Plessis serving a one-match ban for slow over rates, AB de Villiers led South Africa. Farhaan Behardien replaced Du Plessis while Wayne Parnell came in for Lonwabo Tsotsobe. England kept the same team which beat Sri Lanka by six wickets.
The win over England was South Africa’s third in a row in this edition of ICC World T20 while the loss has ended England’s hopes to reach the semi-finals.
South Africa: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Farhaan Behardien, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Dale Steyn, Beuran Hendricks, Wayne Parnell, Imran Tahir.
England: Michael Lumb, Alex Hales, Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Chris Jordan, Stuart Broad, James Tredwell, Jade Dernbach.
