• England defeated South Africa in the first T20I at Cape Town on Friday.

  • Jonny Bairstow was the star of the night with unbeaten 86 off 48 balls.

‘Sensational’ Jonny Bairstow powers England to five-wicket win over South Africa
Jonny Bairstow takes England to victory (Image Source: Twitter)

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Jonny Bairstow exhibited a top-class performance with the bat as he powered England to a 5-wicket win over South Africa in the first T20I at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday.

Bairstow demolished the Proteas bowling attack and scored unbeaten 86 off 48 balls to guide his side chase down the target of 180 with four balls to spare.

The hosts started well after they picked up three wickets of the touring side for just 34. But a crucial partnership of 85 runs between Bairstow and Ben Stokes (37) for the fourth wicket completely changed the momentum of the game.

Though South Africa were still in the competition as England needed 53 from the last four overs but their pacer Beuran Hendricks ended up gifting 28 runs in the 17th over, which took all the hopes away from Quinton de Kock-led side.

In the end, England successfully chased down the target and won the match with five wickets in hand. Bairstow won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his match-winning knock.

Du Plessis drives South Africa to 179/6

Earlier, Faf du Plessis played a vital knock of 58 from 40 deliveries to push the home team total to 179/6 in their allotted 20 overs.

Du Plessis destroyed the English attack in the powerplay to give his side a solid platform. With four boundaries and a couple of two’s, Du Plessis took 24 runs from Tom Curran’s second over.

Apart from the former Proteas leader, De Kock (30 off 23), van der Dussen (37 off 28) and Heinrich Klaasen (20 off 12) made valuable contributions in the team’s total.

For England, all-rounder Sam Curran picked up three wickets for 28 runs in his quota of four overs. Apart from Sam, Jofra Archer (1/28), Tom (1/55) and Chris Jordan (1/40) bagged one wicket each.

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AKSHAT GAUR
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