England v South Africa
Friday, 23 June 2017
County Ground, Taunton
South Africa will look to bounce back in their Twenty20 International series against England when the teams meet in the second match, set for the County Ground in Taunton on Friday 23 June. The hosts cruised to an almost embarrassingly easy victory in the first match at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday, winning by nine wickets with 33 balls to spare. It was as comprehensive a victory as you get in T20I cricket, with England completely outclassing the tourists in every department. The Proteas’ first-innings total of 142 was never going to be enough on a good batting pitch in Southampton, with the same kind of frustrating, conservative batting which marred their ICC Champions Trophy campaign. AB de Villiers and Farhaan Behardien ended with scores of 65 and 64 not out respectively, but there was little urgency and intensity in their batting until the last couple of overs, by which time it was clear that a truly competitive score was out of reach. And in defence of the total, SA’s bowling attack lacked penetration and aggression. Jason Roy, Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow never looked troubled, with the only wicket falling because of a bizarre shot selection rather than any particularly skillful bowling. South Africa may well look to shuffle their pack for this second match by playing the trio who missed out on Wednesday: Chris Morris, Morne Morkel and Dane Paterson. Morkel’s pace and bounce is particularly needed against England’s aggressive opening batsmen. England and South Africa have met in 13 T20Is down the years, with the Proteas claiming seven wins compared to five for the Three Lions. In England, SA have two wins from four matches, with two losses and one no result. This will be the Proteas’ first T20I at the County Ground, while England have lost both of their two previous matches in Taunton.
England v SA - head-to-head in all T20Is
Matches played 13
England wins 5
SA wins 7
No results 1
England v SA - head-to-head in T20Is in England
Matches played 5
England wins 2
SA wins 2
No results 1
England’s T20I record at County Ground
Matches played 2
Wins 0
Losses 2
No results 0
SA’s T20I record at County Ground
N/A - This will be South Africa’s first T20I at County Ground