Published: Feb 19, 2016, 10:58 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 19, 2016, 10:58 PM (IST)
Imran Tahir finished with career-best figures of 4 for 21 to restrict England to 134 for 8 in the first T20 International (T20I) against England. England got off to an excellent start, courtesy of their openers Alex Hales and Jason Roy. Hales looked to carry on his good run of form from the One-Day International (ODI) series and the T20 warm-up match. His wicket for 27 in the seventh over turned out to be the turning point of the innings as England lost one wicket after the other and found themselves at a spot of bother at 81 for 6. Tahir was well supported by David Wiese at the other end, who finished with 1 for 19 in his spell. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: South Africa vs England 2015-16, 1st T20I at Cape Town
Tahir was in fact on a hat-trick, when he got rid of Eoin Morgan and Moeen Ali off consecutive deliveries, but Chris Jordan ensured that the leggie does not get a hat-trick. Jos Buttler upped the ante in the last few overs to help England reach a competitive total. Kyle Abbott and Kagiso Rabada went for runs early in the innings, but his colleagues luckily pulled things back for them. Abbott however came back in the latter stages of the innings and managed to pick up the wickets of Jordan. South Africa will be happy that they managed to restrict England to this score. They have enough fire-power in their batting ans should chase this down easily. LIVE UPDATES: South Africa vs England 2015-16, 1st T20I at Cape Town
Earlier, South Africa had won the toss and elected to bowl first. Quinton de Kock has been rested for the series, but he will be available for the T20I series against Australia. As a result, AB de Villiers had to dawn the wicketkeeping gloves today.
Brief Scores:
England 134 for 8 in 20 Overs (Alex Hales 27, Jos Buttler 32*; Imran Tahir 4 for 21, Kyle Abbott 2 for 31) vs South Africa
