Tabraiz Shamsi five-for as South Africa hammer England to take series 2-1
England lose third white-ball series of the summer after imploding in steep chase
England lose third white-ball series of the summer after imploding in steep chase
Scorer: M Venkat Raghav | Commentator: Alan Gardner & Ekanth
For now though, the action moves from international to The Hundred which starts on the 3rd of August. You can catch the action from there on ESPNcricinfo. On that note, it's goodbye from me, Ekanth, my co-commentator, Alan Gardner, and our scorer, M Venkat Raghav.
At the start of the English summer, the bets would have been on the lines of the LOI sides being on top and the Test team finding it difficult. But things have gone the other way. The last time England didn't win a home limited-overs series in a calendar year, Sampath points out, was in 2013, when they hosted and lost 2 ODI series, 2 T20I series and the Champions Trophy. But the way they lost today, as Buttler noted, was disappointing. For South Africa though, improvement has been incremental and assuring. The traffic-filled road to the T20 World Cup is shaping up and these two teams are looking to find a way through.
Nazim : "This South African team is balanced. Their combination is excellent. Miller captain T20I is nice. Perfect man for captaining in T20I."
David Miller, South Africa Captain: It's a privilege to play my 100th game. Our openers were phenomenal on a tough wicket, they got us to a good start. We showed good intensity and intent. We quickly came back from the first game. Our bounce-back-ability was good to level the series and now win it. We often judge a team by our fielding performances and are happy with how we performed today. Stubbs has improved in domestic cricket, but to do it in the way he did at the international level was very good. The World Cup will be challenging but we have learnt a lot from our process from the last 18 months. The character, the way to win, guys putting up their hands is what we want.
Jos Buttler, England Captain: I thought 190 was a good score but was confident as we want to challenge ourselves. But the way we lost was disappointing. I think we lacked intent. They played well and got a good score, we did not put them under pressure and wrestle initiative. That has been a theme through white-ball the summer and it helps us realise where we are and be honest, reflect on it, we haven't performed well and what we need to do is get better, find out how we move forward as a team and get back to the style we like. I don't think the losses have clouded the issue with the world cup coming as we have gone through changes in leadership and personnel. It's not for the lack of trying. We have time to go away and we have a big tournament on the horizon. So that should bring back excitement. The (bilateral) T20 series in Australia should be when we need to be settled and ready for the tournament.
Reeza Hendricks, POTS: I am very happy with the performance and to have contributed. Was well supported by Aiden and Rilee. It was a good team performance. Everytime you step on, you want to score runs. There are a lot of guys on the sideline, so the competition is massive. So you want to stamp your mark when you get a chance. It was a tricky wicket but I was well supported and thought 190 was a good score. The last match's performance was one to forget. The drop cost us the game but it's nice to do well today.
Tabraiz Shamsi, POTM: Credit to the batters, guys who bowled before me were unbelievable. We did really well as a unit. The bigger boundaries help. It was a pounding before to put it lightly. But it was good to comeback. My wife says I should get 4 in every T20 as if it's like getting it at a supermarket but it was fun to do it this time.
Moeen Ali, Player of the Summer: I'm playing decently but it's not a high-point for the side. It was nice to get a 17-ball 50 in Bristol. That was a highlight. Jos, as a captain, wanted us to take responsibility. My job was to be a floater, be aggressive but it did not come off.
Sreenivasan K: "Again, number games: England played exactly 100 balls, scored 101 runs" Good spot.
5:57 pm: Jonny Bairstow struggled, that's how bad it was for England! South African fielders are in smiles and celebrate heartily as Buttler walks in with sombre contemplation as he walks out to shake hands. England got a wicket-maiden in the first innings and couldn't show up since. With the bat, they had a quiet powerplay. Buttler and Roy could not get gong, they went away. Apart from Bairstow, all specialist batters or allrounders coming after him ended with single-figure scores. All Bairstow could do was watch the wickets tumble at the other end. Shamsi tore apart the middle and lower orders after Maharaj, Nortje, and Ngidi kept things tight up top. There wasn't much of a plot to this car crash. All one can invoke is tamasha that Alan used in the build-up to refer to the jam-packed schedule. But the best England can do is forget this and as Afeef says: "Hey-ho, onto The Hundred we go!"
JM Bairstow c Miller b Maharaj 27 (57m 30b 2x4 0x6) SR: 90.00
AU Rashid c Markram b Shamsi 0 (4m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
Can Shamsi get a fifer? Slip in
England white-ball coach encourages fringe players to press their case in the Hundred
Issues with batting and bowling exposed by string of defeats to India and South Africa
England lose third white-ball series of the summer after imploding in steep chase
Both teams will want to get their team combinations right with the T20 World Cup less than three months away