In the second Twenty20 International, England defeated South Africa 304/2 at Old Trafford in Manchester, becoming them the first team to score more over 300 against a full-member team in T20Is. Jos Buttler‘s 30-ball blitzkrieg of 83 started the onslaught early in the innings, while Phil Salt spearheaded the drive with 141 off 60 balls, the greatest individual score by an English batsman in T20Is. It was a night of amazing ball-striking. The hosts won easily by 146 runs after the visitors were bowled out for 158 in response.
When Salt cut one over backward point for four, England’s objectives were immediately apparent.
In the first over, he hit Marco Jansen hard, adding two more boundaries and a six. After Kagiso Rabada’s opening over, Buttler was 7 off 6 before he started to wreak havoc. Before continuing the chaos against Bjorn Fortuin in another costly over, he closed out the over with two fours and met Lizaad Williams with back-to-back sixes. Buttler sped past 50 in 18 balls, going 6, 4, 4, 4 in Rabada’s second over. England reached 100 in 5.5 overs, the second-fastest in T20Is against a full-member side, as a maximum before the PowerPlay ended.
Buttler hit a string of sixes off Fortuin before holing out on the onside, demonstrating his beast nature. Out of the final 23 balls he faced, Buttler had amassed 76 runs. Salt reached his 50th in 19 balls, carrying on Buttler’s work. England reached 166 thanks to four boundaries in the tenth over. He assumed responsibility when Aiden Markram’s options dwindled, but he gave up 19 runs in the over. In his third over, Rabada unintentionally overstepped twice, giving up 23 runs, while Salt hit a free hit on 99 to record the fastest T20I century by an England batsman, off 39 balls.
With the hosts scoring just 14 runs in the 14th and 15th overs, Fortuin dismissed Jacob Bethell (26 off 14). However, England was back on pace for 300 after three boundaries in the next over. In the 19th over, Salt twice clobbered Jansen to the stands while Harry Brook lined him up, adding to Williams’ wretched evening. Rabada overstepped twice to give up 20 runs, and Brook and Salt smashed fours and sixes in the last mis, which was 16 runs short of 300.
The visitors faced a daunting assignment, but they didn’t give up easily as Markram and Ryan Rickelton put up a 50-run opening partnership in 3.4 overs. The southpaw went 4, 6, 6 against Jofra Archer before Liam Dawson put off a stunning finish to terminate the partnership, while Markram hit 22 off Luke Wood’s over. At the conclusion of the over, Archer hit twice to see Lhuan-dre Pretorius’s back as well.
Sam Curran hit Dewald Brevis four balls later, further derailing the South African innings. After an intriguing 41, Markram cut one too long off, ending his counterattack. Donovan Ferreira showed off his natural hitting strength by smashing 20 off Adil Rashid’s second over. However, as the visitors continued to lose wickets, Curran dismissed his Oval Invincibles rival. Jansen and Tristan Stubbs left shortly after, leaving them seven down as they kept losing. Before Jacks removed him and Kwena Maphaka from the game with consecutive deliveries, Fortuin provided a brief display of entertainment with a 32 off 16 balls. In order to tie the series 1-1, England achieved their greatest-ever T20I triumph when Dawson took the final wicket.
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