England reach fresh heights in T20Is

Highlights of the statistics from England’s historic performance versus South Africa in the second Twenty20 International in Manchester.

The previous record was India’s 297/6 against Bangladesh in Hyderabad last year; England’s 304/2 is the third time a side has reached 300 in T20 Internationals and the first time it has done so against a Full Member team.

T20Is’ highest totals

India’s 283/1 in Johannesburg in 2024 was the highest score ever recorded against South Africa, whereas England’s previous highest was 267/3 against the West Indies at Tarouba in 2023.

England’s 100/0 in the Powerplay is the fourth time a Full Member side has scored 100 or more runs during that phase. Australia’s 113/1 victory over Scotland in Edinburgh last year still stands as the biggest, but South Africa’s 102/0 victory over the West Indies in Centurion in 2023 is the highest against a Full Member side.

When ball-by-ball data is available, England’s halftime total of 166/1 surpasses Australia’s previous high of 156/3 against Scotland in Edinburgh in 2024 as the highest total ever at the end of the tenth over in a T20 International. Only Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 167/0 (in 9.4 overs) versus LSG in Hyderabad during the IPL 2024 is the highest total at the same point in an innings in all T20s when ball-by-ball stats are kept.

The earliest a team has reached the 200-mark in any T20 match when ball-by-ball statistics are available is 12.1 overs, which England took to reach that milestone. Zimbabwe’s 12.5 overs against Gambia in Nairobi in 2024 was the previous fastest.

After Zimbabwe’s 57 (30 fours and 27 sixes) against Gambia in Nairobi in 2024, England’s 48 boundaries (30 fours and 18 sixes) are the second-most by a side in a Twenty20 International innings.

Record books are rewritten by Phil Salt.

Salt broke his own mark of 119 against the West Indies at Tarouba in 2023 with 141*, the highest individual score by an England hitter in a Twenty20 International. It surpasses Babar Azam’s 122 in Centurion in 2021 and is the best score against South Africa and the fifth-highest individual score by a player from a Full Member team.

England’s highest individual scores

Suryakumar Yadav has made four centuries in just forty-two innings in T20Is for Salt, while only Glenn Maxwell and Rohit Sharma have scored five each. Of the four, Salt reached the fourth hundred in 42 innings, 15 more quickly than Suryakumar, who reached it in his 57th appearance.

Salt beats Liam Livinsgtone’s previous record by three balls (42 balls vs. Pakistan, Nottingham, 2021) with 39 balls to his hundred, making it the fastest for England in T20Is. It is tied with Johnson Charles’s 2023 effort at Centurion as the fastest versus South Africa.

16.06 Jos Buttler and Salt’s first wicket partnership of 126 off just 47 balls, with a run rate of 16.06, is the highest ever for a T20I opening partnership of 100 or more by a full member team. In just 17 innings, it is the pair’s fourth 100+ stand in the format.

Three times, South Africa bowlers have given up more than 60 runs: Rabada’s 70, Williams’ 62, and Jansen’s 60, the first time this has happened in a Twenty20 International. The most runs ever given up by a South African bowler in a Twenty20 International is seventy, which Rabada gave up. Lizaad Williams gave up 62 runs in his opening three overs; of bowlers from a Full Member team, only Liam McCarthy has given up more after the first three overs (63 against WI, Dublin, and Bready, 2025).

146 runs The margin of victory for England was the largest by runs in a Twenty20 International ever, exceeding the 137-run victory over the West Indies at Basseterre in 2019. In addition, it surpasses South Africa’s 135-run loss against India in Johannesburg in 2024 as the team’s largest loss by runs.