#T20 Proteas set imposing total
The Proteas smashed England all over Wankhede Stadium in their ICC World T20 opener, setting them 230 to win.
|||Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy powered their way to half-centuries as the Proteas smashed England all over Wankhede Stadium in their ICC World T20 opener on Friday.
Amla reached his 50 off just 25 balls, while De Kock took just 21 – equalling the South African record for the fastest in T20Is, held by AB de Villiers – in what was his maiden half-century to lay a strong platform for South Africa to go well beyond the 200 mark in their 20 overs.
They finished on an impressive 229/4, with a late-innings surge from Duminy and David Miller adding a few much-needed boundaries at the end.
After England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and chose to bowl, Amla and De Kock launched on astonishing assault on the English attack as they got to 50 off just 3.5 overs, despite scoring just two off the first.
De Kock pounced on anything full outside off-stump and brought up his 50 in the seventh over, hitting David Willey for two fours and two sixes in the third over of the innings.
And while questions have been asked about Amla’s effectiveness in T20 cricket, he showed what he could do by slamming Chris Jordan for 22 runs in an over and going to his fourth T20I fifty.
There was a bit of a mid-innings hiccup when De Kock got out, as De Villiers came in at No 3 and last just eight balls for 16 runs before he was undone by English leg-spinner Adil Rashid as he went for another big hit. De Villiers got a thick edge and skied it to Morgan in the covers, and it led to three overs without a boundary.
Amla perished lbw to Moeen Ali for an excellent 58 off 31 balls (7x4, 3x6), but Duminy (54 not out off 28 balls, 3x4, 3x6) and Miller (28 not out off 12 balls) ensured that the South Africans posted a seriously formidable target with some lusty blows.
But whether it will be enough remains to be seen on what is a belter of a batting pitch at the Wankhede Stadium.
* Follow @IndyCapeSport on Twitter for live updates of Friday’s SA v England match.
ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za
@IndyCapeSport
TEAMS IN MUMBAI
South Africa: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), Faf du Plessis (captain), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, David Miller, Chris Morris, Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir.
England: Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Jos Buttler (wk), Eoin Morgan (captain), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Reece Topley.