South Africa tour of England: 1st T20 – Kallis, Duminy take South Africa home in series opener – Match Update
Veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis and JP Duminy scored unbeaten forties to lead South Africa to a seven-wicket win over England in the opening T20 International of the three-match series, at Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street, on Saturday, September 8, 2012.
Jacques Kallis, returning to the international duty after being rested for the drawn five-ODI series against the Poms, scored unbeaten 48 runs while Duminy returned unbeaten on 47, to take the tourists home comfortably, with six balls and seven wickets to spare.
Set to chase an apparently modest 119 to win, the tourists started in a tumultuous way, losing three batsmen inside four overs, with only 29 on board. Richard Levi scored eight runs before nicking Jade Dernbach to Graeme Swann in the slip. Faf du Plessis (4) was trapped leg before by Steve Finn while skipper AB de Villiers was caught behind by wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter off Dernbach.
Levi’s opening partner, Jacques Kallis then took the charge of stabilising his side. Kallis scored 48 runs off 44 balls, including seven muscular boundaries. He shared an unbroken stand of 90 runs from 90 balls with left-hander JP Duminy (47 not out) to take the side home, with one over and seven wickets to spare.
Earlier, after putting England into bat, South African bowlers restricted the hosts to 118 for 7 in their stipulated twenty overs. Wicketkeeper batsman Craig Kieswetter top scored with 25 runs at almost a run a ball, hitting three fours and a six. Skipper Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann were the other notable performers, both scoring unbeaten 18 runs.
Robin Peterson and Johan Botha both picked up two wickets apiece, while Dale Steyn and Albie Morkel took one wicket each. Steyn was the most economical bowler of the day, conceding just 13 runs in his quota of four overs.
South African pacer Dale Steyn was adjudged as the Man of the Match for his starting figures of 4-0-13-1
The second T20 between the two sides will be played at Old Trafford in Manchester, on Monday, September 10, while the third and final T20 will be played Birmingham, on Wednesday.
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