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Match Report:

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Match Report

England shock Proteas with record chase

cricket.com.au
Match Report
cricket.com.au

Joe Root hits 83 to chase down South Africa's 229 in a high-scoring match that went down to the wire in Mumbai

The match in a tweet: The greatest T20 ever? Some say yes. Root inspires England to improbable win chasing down South Africa's 229 in final over to stay alive

POLL: Where does Root's knock rank?

The hero: Joe Root. England's talisman single-handedly dragged his country to this most improbable of victories. Alex Hales and Jason Roy gave England the fast start and imbued the side with belief but it was Root's masterful 83 – full of exquisite cricket shots and no brute force blasting – that dragged them from contenders to champions in a remarkable match.

The support cast: Roy's 43 from 16 balls and Hales' 17 from seven saw England off and racing with the flying start they needed with a total of 229 on the board. The flying start they gave England quickly made the deflation the side must have felt at a substandard bowling effort disappear and – with South Africa's bowlers also struggling at the Wankhede – they proved to teammates there was a chance.

WATCH: South Africa plunder huge total

The consolation effort: Three South Africans passed 50 – only the second time that has ever happened in a T20 international (the other was also against England, in 2007) – and none of them would have expected to end on the losing side after South Africa reached 229. Quinton de Kock started like a man possessed, punishing England's wayward new-ball attack of Reece Topley and David Willey. He had plundered 36 runs while Hashim Amla scored one. Amla's time would come and Chris Jordan was also on the receiving end. South Africa's openers had scored 96 before De Kock departed for 52, and Amla added 58 before he went.  JP Duminy was the third member of this fifty-scoring triumvirate. Where De Kock and Amla had punished at the opening, Duminy's assault was at the tail end – he finished with 54 from 28 balls.

The wash-up: England live to fight another day, as unexpected as that had seemed at the innings break. South Africa now have the pressure piled on them. It sets up an even contest in Group 1 with Sunday night's Sri Lanka v West Indies clash holding extra significance for both teams.

The next stop: South Africa will be desperate for a net run rate boosting victory when they face Afghanistan at this same venue on Sunday night. England now have a break until next Wednesday when they too face Afghanistan in their next clash, in Delhi. 

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