CAPE TOWN: Dawid Malan scored an unbeaten 99 as England impressively chased down an imposing target to beat South Africa by nine wickets at Newlands on Tuesday and complete a clean sweep of their three-match Twenty20 International series.

South Africa elected to bat after winning the toss and, after a spluttering start, reached 191 for three wickets.

But a swashbuckling, record-breaking reply by Malan and Jos Buttler helped England to their target with 14 balls to spare.

The tourists made 192-1 with Malan one shy of his century and Buttler 67 not out in a T20 International record 167-run second-wicket partnership, which came off 90 balls.

“It’s exceedingly pleasing to win a game in such conditions as it builds confidence in the changing room,” said England captain Eoin Morgan.

South Africa, easily beaten by England in their opening two matches in the Cape, were again slow to get going and had scored 64-3 in the 10th over when Rassie van der Dussen joined former captain Faf du Plessis at the crease.

The pair then added an unbeaten 127 runs as van der Dussen scored a career T20 high of 74 with the experienced du Plessis adding 52 not out. They smacked 84 runs off the final five overs to set a testing target for the tourists.

But England, after losing Jason Roy for 16 in their fourth over, set about a poor home attack with some venom, hammering the bowling to all parts of the ground including 40 runs off the 11th and 12th overs alone.

Malan, who had scored 55 on Sunday in Paarl to help England clinch the series, continued where he left off at the smaller Newlands, reaching his half century off 26 balls.

He reached 98 with a four that tied the scores and then appeared unaware that he was one shy of his ton as he failed to attempt a second run despite a fielding fumble.

“I didn’t calculate that too well. Maybe I must go back to maths class,” he joked afterwards.

England and South Africa will now play three One-day Internationals, starting at Newlands on Friday.

Meanwhile, Malan has notched up the highest-ever rating for a batsman in the men’s Twenty20 International rankings after topping the scoring charts against South Africa.

The 33-year-old has reached 915 points, the first player to cross the 900-point mark in the format. Australia’s Aaron Finch posted exactly 900 points in July 2018.

Malan holds a 44-point advantage in the rankings over Pakistan captain Babar Azam, whom he overtook in September.

Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA:

Q. de Kock c T. Curran b Jordan 17

T. Bavuma c Jordan b Stokes 32

R.R. Hendricks c Buttler b Stokes 13

F. du Plessis not out 52

H.E. van der Dussen not out 74

EXTRAS (W-2, NB-1) 3

TOTAL (for three wkts, 20 overs) 191

FALL OF WKTS: 1-34, 2-61, 3-64.

DID NOT BAT: P.J. van Biljon, G.F. Linde, A. Nortje, L. Sipamla, L. Ngidi, T. Shamsi.

BOWLING: S.M. Curran 3-0-35-1 (2w); Archer 4-0-44-0; Jordan 4-0-42-1 (1nb); T.K. Curran 2-0-24-0; Adil Rashid 4-0-20-0; Stokes 3-0-26-2.

ENGLAND:

J.J. Roy lbw b Nortje 16

J.C. Buttler not out 67

D.J. Malan not out 99

EXTRAS (B-4, W-5, NB-1) 10

TOTAL (for one wkt, 17.4 overs) 192

FALL OF WKT: 1-25.

DID NOT BAT: J.M. Bairstow, B.A. Stokes, E.J.G. Morgan, S.M. Curran, T.K. Curran, C.J. Jordan, J.C. Archer, Adil Rashid.

BOWLING: Linde 4-0-26-0; Nortje 4-0-37-1 (1w); Sipamla 2.4-0-45-0 (1nb, 2w); Ngidi 3-0-23-0 (1w); Shamsi 4-0-57-0 (1w).

RESULT: England won by nine wickets to win three-match series.

UMPIRES: B.P. Jele (South Africa) and A. Paleker (South Africa).

TV UMPIRE: A.T. Holdstock (South Africa).

MATCH REFEREE: A.J. Pycroft (Zimbabwe).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Dawid Malan.

MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Dawid Malan.

FIRST MATCH: Cape Town, England won by five wickets.

SECOND MATCH: Paarl, England won by four wickets.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2020