SA tour of England 2017, ENG vs SA 2nd T20I Match Report, June 23, 2017

Roy, who hit his first 50 in 11 international innings, appeared to have put England on course for the final victory of the series as he added 110 off 70 balls with Jonny Bairstow for England’s second wicket. But when Bairstow lofted it to mid-on and Roy a few deliveries later, South Africa’s seamers turned the screws in expert fashion as the light faded and excitement grew, enjoying a track that offered pace and bounce.

The outcome remained uncertain until the last delivery after Liam Dawson hit his penultimate ball for four. A further six inches would have left England needing just two inches to win the final ball. As it was, Dawson needed to hit another four – three to ensure the super over – and could not make contact with his heave.

“It was probably a 50-50 call, you could see both sides,” England captain Eoin Morgan said. “Everyone in the dressing room thought it could have gone either way, so it’s not really controversial. I can see why the referee sent him off. Jason clearly saw the defender but then ran straight ahead so it was a 50-50 call. They certainly deserved the appeal and the spirit of the game is open to interpretation.

‘We were going well for most of the chase, but lost a wicket at a crucial moment and no one could take it after that. “We didn’t deserve the win because we didn’t capitalize on it right from the start.”

Perhaps the sold-out crowd wasn’t the result they wanted. But it was a dramatic conclusion to an event that saw men’s international cricket return to Taunton for the first time since the 1999 World Cup. It received cheers from 12,420 people. (The Somerset chairman thought the club could have sold out the match – only the England men’s team’s second international match and first since the 1983 World Cup – more than four) The only thing lacking in a great stadium were floodlights. They are due to be installed in the next few months, but they would have been very useful towards the end of this run.

With Roy and Bairstow in control, this seemed a very unlikely outcome. Roy wasn’t the most fluent at first, but he felt confident that the run was flowing. He took four fours in Morne Morkel’s second over – two of which were edges that could have gone anywhere – and gradually settled in, registering his second T20I half-century with a straight driven six into the Ian Botham stand from Tabraiz Shamsi’s left-arm wrist spin.

Bairstow suffered very few losses by comparison. He has been waiting a long time for his chance in England’s limited-overs team and evidence over the past few weeks suggests he is determined to take it.

Having equaled his career-best T20I score in the first match of the series, he hit another 47 here and hit two knocks. Particularly memorable were the four shots approaching Morkel’s yorker and the same bowler’s six pulls.

Phehlukwayo, bowled in a careless final over that required 12, took the key wicket of returning hero Jos Buttler, who was brought down by a fine yorker, before Morgan hit a full toss to mid-on off Dane Paterson’s slippery pace.

Previously, Tom Curran took three wickets on debut as South Africa were restricted to 174 for eight under par. After taking his wicket with only his second ball in international cricket – after Reeza Hendricks attempted to pull his stumps – Curran returned to bowl the final two overs at the Somerset Pavilion End, impressing with his control and variation. He claimed two more wickets in that spell, Morris mishitting a slow ball to long-on and Phehlukwayo bowling a searing yorker off his first delivery. His incredible speed of up to 88 miles per hour was enough to suggest that he has a future at this level.

But Liam Plunkett was the fastest of the seamers. Reaching 90mph at times, he took two wickets with the slow ball. Mangaliso Mosehle glommed on the pull and pushed away David Miller’s attempted effort. On the other hand, Farhaan Berhardien’s promising innings was ended by a Chris Jordan yorker.

However, England’s performance on the field was not perfect. Jordan, usually very reliable, dropped Berhardien on the 11 midway through. It was a fierce drive that sent the ball through his hands and onto his chin. Meanwhile, Livingstone on the deep midwicket boundary dropped a more direct chance offered by Morris in the 11th over. England also conceded five wides, four of them to Jordan, who also – most unusually – allowed the ball to evade his hands on middle and sprint for four. They had to prove a costly mistake.

South Africa were especially grateful for much more convincing batting performances from AB de Villiers and JJ Smuts. Enjoying the extra speed of the surface, de Villiers made 46 off 20 deliveries, with highlights including a sweep of Dawson for six and Plunkett for one, before appearing to lose his grip on the bat as he attempted to drive David Willey and instead skiing to mid-on to take a catch.

Smuts, who was hitting the ball exceptionally hard, also had a 45, but his final total of 174 looked like he was about 25 under par on a good hitting surface. But South Africa’s pace and England’s errors forced the two teams to play the entire series when they met in Cardiff on Sunday.