Updated on
Summary Kallis was unbeaten on 48 and Duminy finished on 47 not out.
Jacques Kallis and JP Duminy piled on the agony as South Africa thrashed England by seven wickets in their first Twenty20 international at the Riverside on Saturday.Kallis was unbeaten on 48 and Duminy finished on 47 not out as South Africa closed on 119-3, easily overhauling Englands 118-7 with six balls to spare after Jade Dernbach, who finished with 2-31, had given the hosts hope.Earlier Johan Botha took 2-19 and claimed two catches, while Robin Peterson took 2-27 as England collapsed from 40-1 at the end of the powerplay.Craig Kieswetter hit 25 but the rest of the top order failed and Englands next highest scorers were captain Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann, both of whom finished unbeaten on 18.With the three-match series continuing at Old Trafford on Monday, South Africa captain AB de Villiers was delighted with the performance.Im very proud of the way the boys played today, it was a good start for us, De Villiers said.Dale Steyn had a wonderful spell there. I used him right throughout the 20 overs. Every time he came on he bowled with a lot of pace, he looked like taking wickets. The bowling unit kept taking wickets and never allowed England to get a lot of momentum, which is key in T20 cricket.Broad admitted England hadnt posted a competitive target. We were probably 20 or 30 short, Broad said. We didnt adapt to the conditions very well and I thought we batted pretty averagely. It was a little bit sticky with the spin. We played the first six overs quite nicely, we just struggled in the middle period. Its something were aware of and something we need to improve.England had made a bright start, after losing the toss and being asked to bat. Kieswetter smashed the first six of the match when he whacked Lonwabo Tsotsobe over long on at the end of the third over, but four balls later Alex Hales was run out for 11 by a direct hit from Kallis.Botha trapped Kieswetter with his first ball, lbw for 25 at the start of the seventh over and he then caught Ravi Bopara for 6 at first slip after the batsman edged Dale Steyn. In Bothas next over he bowled Eoin Morgan, who played on for 10.Robin Peterson deceived Jos Buttler in the flight, bowling him for 6 in the 13th over and England lost their last specialist batsman in the 14th, when Jonny Bairstow got a leading edge to Albie Morkel and was caught for 15 by Botha at long on.Samit Patel made just 4 before he chipped Peterson to a diving Kallis at long off and it was left to the bowlers, Broad and Swann, to push England past three figures. When Swann pulled Peterson through midwicket in the 18th it was the hosts first boundary in nine overs.Broad also offered some defiance but South Africas target of 119 looked modest. South Africa had to overcome a jittery start, losing Richard Levi in the second over of the chase when he slashed Jade Dernbach to Swann at first slip for 8.Faf du Plessis was plumb lbw to Steven Finn for 4 in the next over and when de Villiers was caught behind off Dernbach for 10 the Proteas were wobbling on 29-3.However, Duminy and Kallis steadily took the game away from England and Kallis hit the winning run with a single off Dernbach.
