Cape Town: Johnny Bairstow defeated England by five wickets against South Africa in the first Twenty20 International in New Zealand in Cape Town.
Bairstow scored 86 not out off 48 balls while England scored 30 off four balls in pursuit of the 180-run target.
England were batting on 34 for three before Barosto and Ben Stokes (37) changed the pace of the match with the fourth wicket for 85 runs.
Nevertheless, South Africa had a realistic chance of winning as England needed 51 runs in the last four overs.
But left-arm fast bowler Byron Hendricks scored 28 runs in the 17th over, including three wickets worth eight runs, as Bairstow and England captain Ian Morgan went on the attack.
Morgan said the win was “extremely gratifying, because we were quite average except for two or three players.”
Morgan said England’s bowlers were missing out on “abandoned areas”, although left-hander Sam Korn made the best three of his career in South Africa’s 179-run innings for six wickets.
And he was disappointed with the start of the batting, although he praised Bairstow and Stokes.
“Johnny and Ben successfully rearranged the way to success,” he told Superport Television.
Bairstow batted fourth instead of opening as he often does in whiteball cricket.
“It’s something you enjoy,” he said. “You learn to prepare your innings in different ways.”
Bairstow hit nine fours and four sixes and ended the match with his fourth six, which went into a great look at the north end of the ground.
Former captain Faf du Plessis top-scored for South Africa with 58 off 40 balls.
South Africa’s first international match since March was played without spectators due to coveted restrictions.
South Africa captain Quetin de Kock has denied blaming Hendrix.
“I don’t think it was just an over. It was a game of Johnny and Ben. We didn’t play badly. They played a really good game.
Scoreboard
England won the toss
South Africa
T. Bumoma C. Butler BS Curran 5
* Question D. Cook C. Morgan B. Jordan 30
F du Plessis J Jordan BS Kran 58
H. Van der Dawson C. Milan B. Archer 37
H Classin C Butler BS Curran 20
P Van Bulgen scored 7 not out
G. Linde BT Curran 12
Extras (lb1, w9) 10
Total (6 wkts, 20 overs) 179
Fall: 1-6, 2-83, 3-110, 4-147, 5-161, 6-179
Bowling: S. Korn 4-0-28-3 (1 f), Archer 4-0-28-1, T Crane 4-0-55-1 (2 f), Rashid 4-0-27-0 (1 f) ), Jordan 4-0-40-1 (3 and)
Not batting: B. Hendricks, K. Rabada, L. Engedi, T. Shamsi
England
J. Rai CD Cook B. Linde0
J. Butler C. Classin B. Eng
D. Milan C. Rabada B. Linde 19
J. Bairstow Not Out 86
B. Stokes C. Linde b Solar 37
* E. Morgan C. He agrees with Ngidi12
S. Curran Not Out 7
Extras (LB3, W12) 15
Total (5 wkts, 19.2 overs) 183
Fall: 1-0, 2-27, 3-34, 4-119, 5-159
Bowling: Linde 4-0-20-2, Rabda 4-0-32-0, Hendricks 4-0-56-0 (5w), Engedi 3.2-0-31-2 (1w), Solar 3-0 -27-1 (1W), Classin 1-0-14-0
Not batting: T. Curran, C. Arden, J. Archer, A. Rashid
Result: England won by 5 wickets
Man of the Match: Johnny Bairstow (England)
Umpires: Adrian Holdact, Alludine Pelicar. Match Referee: Andy Pycraft (ZIM)
.
