Joe Root hit 83 from 44 balls as England pulled off an astonishing run chase – the biggest in World Twenty20 history – reaching their 230 target with two balls to spare after South Africa had made 229 for four
5.51pm GMT
How do you summarise that? How about this from Eoin Morgan: “I thought we would have to play out of our skins to chase that down – and we did.”
South Africa were 96-0 after seven overs, and set England a target of 230, to avoid basically being eliminated from the tournament. And England won. They will now face Afghanistan, and defending champions Sri Lanka, with hope and self-belief renewed.
Related: Joe Root leads the way as England record stunning World Twenty20 win
5.43pm GMT
5.40pm GMT
What. A. Match. And what an innings from Joe Root, the standout batsman today – and there was plenty of competition. That’s the biggest run chase in World T20 history, as if you needed telling. Root is quick to praise the start that Jason Roy and Alex Hales made. The victory was all about “building partnerships, playing smart cricket, and remembering the pressure is on the bowlers in this format”. He makes it look easy, and sound easy to boot.
5.36pm GMT
It’s Rashid up next, but this is very much down to Moeen at the striker’s end. A dot ball, and the tension is becoming unbearable… but he lifts the next to long off, and gets the vital run!
5.33pm GMT
Oh dear. Moeen pushes into the off side, the batsmen hesitate, decide to run, change their minds, and Willey is caught in the middle of nowhere. Are we somehow going to a super over? Or will a Reece Topley six win it?
5.31pm GMT
Jordan goes big off Abbott, and Duminy, deep in the outfield, has to hold this… and he does! Jordan has gone...
5.28pm GMT
19th over: England 229-6 (Moeen 11, Jordan 5); England need 1 run from 6 balls to win
Jordan is in, and Moeen is on strike. Have England got enough on the board? They may do now, as Moeen drives through midwicket for four! Rabada with a full toss, and Jordan smacks him through extr cover for four more! One more run required...
5.24pm GMT
Oh my. Root crunches Rabada over the covers. Is it a six…? No! Miller clutches it at the boundary. It’s never easy with England.
5.21pm GMT
18th over: England 219-5 (Root 83, Moeen 6); England need 11 runs from 12 balls to win
More magic from Root, firing a wide from Morris away for four, then adding another with a flick behind square. Morris has cost 34 runs from 14 deliveries – and here’s another four, as a short, scruffy ball misses Root’s top edge, and de Kock’s despairing leap, for four. Moeen moves onto strike, and sends it trundling off his pads to deep fine leg. Abbott is covering… but it goes through him. I think it might be England’s day.
5.16pm GMT
“Guess everyone is too spellbound by the match to riff/email. I’d love to say England to romp it, but I wonder if we’ve quite got the cajones for it. SA to win by 5 runs” says Sam Hedges.
“The South African total always looked 20 or 30 runs short” quips Simon McMahon.
5.14pm GMT
17th over: England 202-5 (Root 70, Moeen 2); England need 28 runs from 18 balls to win
Oh, what a shot from Root, flicked effortlessly over midwicket off a too-straight Abbott delivery. The next is even better – a clinical off-drive down the ground for six! It’s caught brilliantly by a security guard, lurking behind the hoardings. Moeen sees out the over, and Root will stay on strike.
5.09pm GMT
16th over: England 188-5 (Root 58, Moeen 1); England need 42 runs from 24 balls to win
How we feeling out there?
5.07pm GMT
South Africa will need to break this partnership to save the game... and almost out of nowhere, they have! After a cluster of singles, Buttler comes out of his crease, and is stumped, just, with the ball squirming from de Kock’s gloves, but too late to save the batsman. Replays suggest Buttler nicked it through, but either way – he’s gone.
5.02pm GMT
15th over: England 183-4 (Root 55, Buttler 20); England need 47 runs from 30 balls to win
Ten an over required, with a slippery outfield and a settled partnership. Is this England’s to lose? They’ll have Eoin Morgan’s sacrifice to thank if they make it. Morris to bowl, and he starts with a wide. Again, fuller deliveries steady the ship, but Root is in the mood – and he brings up his 50 with an outrageous shot, an improvised paddle that pops off the bat and all the way for six. Another wide from Morris as he blusters to the end of the over.
4.56pm GMT
14th over: England 170-4 (Root 46, Buttler 18); England need 60 runs from 36 balls Tahir returns, but gives up three wides as the ball speeds away. The outfield is quickening up nicely, but du Plessis and de Villiers scramble at the fence to deny Buttler a four. Root and Buttler keep the scoreboard ticking over, not going after Tahir, happy to take their chances with the quick bowlers.
4.52pm GMT
13th over: England 160-4 (Root 43, Buttler 14); England need 70 runs from 42 balls: Du Plessis calls on Dale Steyn, who was swatted for 23 in his only over so far. Root turns a full ball into the covers for two, before Buttler flicks a single off his pads. Both batsmen in good touch, grinding out the runs. The dew is becoming a concern, with Steyn towelling the ball down between deliveries. He errs on the straight side, and Root flicks it away for four.
4.46pm GMT
12th over: England 148-4 (Root 33, Buttler 13) Root puts Duminy away over midwicket, but is denied a second boundary by Amla at deep cover, who juggles the ball brilliantly on the run. He can’t do anything about Buttler’s pull shot, which flies into the stand. England are back in business.
4.43pm GMT
11th over: England 133-4 (Root 25, Buttler 6) Short and wide from Chris Morris, and Root cuts it away for six. Morris switches to a fuller length – South Africa’s bowlers have been very quick to learn from their mistakes. England’s, not so much.
A couple of leg byes here though, and Morris, struggling to get the over finished, offers Buttler a bit of width. He snaffles his first boundary with a tidy square drive.
4.37pm GMT
10th over: England 118-4 (Root 18, Buttler 1) Morgan, who was managing less than a run a ball, is gone, and here comes Jos Buttler. Can a wicket ever be good news for the batting side? Root ends his, and England’s, wait for a boundary, crashing a six over the covers to spoil an excellent over from Tahir.
4.35pm GMT
Duminy has bowled very short, but hasn’t been punished for missing his line. It’s a frustrating spell, and it gets the better of Morgan, who charges forward, swings and misreads a quicker ball, chopping it into his stumps.
4.32pm GMT
9th over: England 109-3 (Morgan 11, Root 11) Tahir back in, continuing to drain England of enthusiasm, and almost catching Morgan with a well-timed googly. A full toss is driven to a fielder by the captain, and the boundary drought goes on. England slip behind South Africa’s total for the first time.
4.29pm GMT
The first, obviously, is darts.
4.28pm GMT
8th over: England 103-3 (Morgan 7, Root 10) After seven overs, South Africa were on 96... for 0. Is England’s momentum running out? JP Duminy is in, with Root looking to get after him – but he can’t find the gap through the leg side. England’s timing a little off, in the face of determined fielding, and it’s another over of nurdling.
4.24pm GMT
7th over: England 96-3 (Morgan 4, Root 6) With the field spread, it’s time for Imran Tahir. Rabada denies Root a boundary, paddled around the corner, with a skittering dive at deep fine leg. Otherwise, it’s a tight over from Tahir, with the batsmen forced to toil for singles.
4.21pm GMT
6th over: England 89-3 (Morgan 1, Root 2) Morgan heads to the crease, with England needing to steady the ship. They are still ahead of South Africa at this stage, by six.
“It’s good to see England, for once, getting the boundaries in while the fielding restrictions are still on. About time they cottoned on” notes John Starbuck.
4.19pm GMT
Rabada, 0-30 off two overs, is back to close the powerplay. Stokes is waiting, crashing the nervous bowler waaaay over midwicket for a big old six. Rabada goes fuller, but Stokes is poised – but an attempted pull flies straight to Morris at deep square leg! Stokes looks sick, and that could spell trouble for England.
4.14pm GMT
5th over: England 79-2 (Stokes 8, Root 1) Abbott goes short, but hands over some cheap runs with a ball that balloons off the surface and over de Kock. Five wides. The wicketkeeper wouldn’t have stopped that with a stepladder. Abbott switches back to yorkers with immediate effect.
4.11pm GMT
...Roy tries to repeat the trick, but gets it all wrong, and de Kock takes an easy catch as the ball drops behind the stumps. Was that strictly necessary? Either way, Kyle Abbott has a second wicket.
4.10pm GMT
5th over: England 71-1 (Roy 43, Stokes 6) South Africa have gone all in on yorkers to try and stem the tide, but Roy scoops Abbott away for six...
4.08pm GMT
4th over: England 65-1 (Roy 37, Stokes 6) Rabada returns after that gruesome first over, and continues to leak runs, with Stokes slashing a wide ball away for his first boundary. A yorker catches Stokes on the boot, but lbw appeals are waved away. England still fifteen runs up on South Africa at this stage, which is quite remarkable.
4.04pm GMT
3rd over: England 56-1 (Roy 33, Stokes 1) Ben Stokes is up the order and at the crease, looking to continue the powerplay fun. Abbott tests him with a yorker, but Roy, who is firmly in the zone, smacks a short one into the stands to put the bowler back in his place.
4.01pm GMT
Du Plessis puts two men out on the leg side boundary, so Hales swats Abbott’s first ball straight between them. The party’s over soon after though, with Abbott trapping Hales middle-and-leg. A vital wicket for South Africa.
3.58pm GMT
2nd over: England 44-0 (Roy 26, Hales 13) Steyn’s first ball is flicked dangerously close to Abbott at short fine leg – but he drops a tricky chance, and it runs for four. Steyn keeps it straight, but he can’t find his line, and Hales matches Roy for technique, picking his spots for another two boundaries!
Steyn goes wide, but Roy pummels him to long off for four. To finish the over, a six, crashed mercilessly over the leg side. Why not? Dale Steyn is sent for 23 overs, and it’s a world-record start from England!
3.53pm GMT
1st over: England 21-0 (Roy 16, Hales 0) Boom! Jason Roy means business, starting with a four down the ground. Rabada’s next ball is heaved over the covers for four more. Rabada bangs in a short ball, but it leaps off the wicket and over de Kock. Five wides! Not a bowler’s pitch, this. Roy sits back in his crease, and pulls Rabada to square leg. Another four – and a beauty of a straight drive ends the over. South Africa were 2-0 after one over; this is going to be easy.
3.48pm GMT
England’s run to World Twenty20 glory starts here: Rabada bowling to Jason Roy.
3.36pm GMT
“I’d honestly rather have been proved wrong” offers Christopher Dale – while Rachit Gupta is more sanguine:
“With a name like Moeen Ali in your lineup, you are never far away from knocking your opponents out - I suspect that this game will go down like the India game from 2011 World Cup!”
3.33pm GMT
That’s the sixth highest international T20 score ever made – and the second highest in the World Twenty20. Three half-centuries – for Amla, de Kock and Duminy – twenty fours, thirteen sixes. England’s bowling was average at its best, amateurish at worst – but South Africa punished them ruthlessly. England may be relieved that the target set is possible, if not probable. Back shortly.
3.30pm GMT
20th over: South Africa 229-4 (Duminy 54, Miller 28) Jordan to play us out, hoping to serve up a yorker or two. Duminy, given far fewer freebies than the openers, has batted with great efficiency, and he brings up his 50 with a six that carries just beyond Roy at deep midwicket.
The fifty partnership is brought up as Morgan, lurching forward, drops Duminy. Insult to injury. Miller is on strike, powers over cow corner for six, and finishes with a four through the off side. An appropriate end to a dominant South African innings.
3.24pm GMT
19th over: South Africa 211-4 (Duminy 47, Miller 17) England have fought gamely, but now it’s Reece Topley’s turn. His first ball, a missed yorker, is crashed for six by Duminy and the second, on an errant line outside off, follows suit. Morgan has a word, and the next two are tighter, but with the field spread, Duminy picks up a canny couple – make that three, as Moeen misfields.
3.20pm GMT
“Is it just my eyes or have England’s funky rose hip shirts got a built in black armband? Are they getting their mourning in early?” offers someone who has chosen to remain anonymous.
Pre-emptive uniforms aren’t a bad idea – perhaps their shirts should just say ‘Sorry!’ across the front.
3.18pm GMT
18th over: South Africa 193-4 (Duminy 31, Miller 15) David Willey slides a yorker into leg stump which Duminy works away for a single. Miller, who has waited patiently for his chance, gets it as Willey serves up a full toss. It sails over midwicket, and into the upper tier of the stand.
3.15pm GMT
17th over: South Africa 182-4 (Duminy 28, Miller 7) Jordan – who has bowled one solitary, terrible, over so far – is back, hoping to offer some danger at the death. Miller glances him away for four, helped by more hapless fielding on the boundary. A shorter ball is neatly covered by Root at third man. Nine runs off the over – not a disaster for either side.
3.11pm GMT
16th over: South Africa 173-4 (Duminy 25, Miller 1) An impressive over from Willey ends with a hearty lbw shout against David Miller, as a full ball swings in late. Ravi shakes his head, and replays suggest it’s the wrong decision.
3.09pm GMT
Du Plessis hasn’t found the timing of his team-mates, and a swing through the leg side picks out Jason Roy!
3.07pm GMT
16th over: South Africa 169-3 (du Plessis 17, Duminy 23) Willey is back, and this is a big five overs. England need to keep the target under 200, South Africa will be aiming for 220+. Willey doesn’t give the batsmen room to work with, and du Plessis swings a touch hopefully – Morgan is chasing it, but it drops short of the covers.
3.03pm GMT
15th over: South Africa 166-3 (du Plessis 15, Duminy 22) Ben Stokes up next, with Jordan and Topley kept well away from the action. Stokes is banging in the short stuff, but du Plessis adapts, and scoops the ball over the wicket for four.
Stokes can’t believe what he’s just seen, and it’s not getting any better, as Buttler misfields the next. Two byes, an increasingly irritated Morgan sends out a long stop, but a full toss on leg stump is glanced away for four by Duminy. A wide, then a full ball goes for a single. A hot mess of an over.
2.58pm GMT
14th over: South Africa 152-3 (du Plessis 10, Duminy 16) Root’s first ball is tossed up and Duminy works it away for two. Still, a lengthy spell without a South African boundary. It doesn’t last, Duminy going down the ground and handed a four by Hales, who misfields comically. Root goes short, and Duminy punches it dismissively away for four more.
2.54pm GMT
13th over: South Africa 139-3 (du Plessis 9, Duminy 4) Morgan brings a slip in, and Rashid continues to impress, keeping the batsmen guessing as South Africa nurdle four singles from the over. Morgan is sticking with spin – Joe Root will bowl the next.
2.52pm GMT
12th over: South Africa 134-3 (du Plessis 7, Duminy 1) Duminy next to the crease, and he gets off the mark with a single.
“Is this really sub standard bowling by England? Genius Batting by SA? Or a pitch that poses absolutely zero questions?” asks George Rogers. For the first six overs, it was a perfect storm of all three.
2.50pm GMT
“I once tried karaoke in Tokyo, where my hosts (very politely) insisted I give them a rendition of God Save The Queen” offers Thomas Hopkins.
“It was, surprisingly, available. But only the Sex Pistols version. A bleak (for me) and confusing (for them) three minutes followed.”
2.49pm GMT
England are fighting back after that brutal start, and Moeen has a second wicket, catching Amla’s pads square in front. England have made their way through their opponents’ top three, but it’s cost them 126 runs.
2.46pm GMT
11th over: South Africa 128-2 (Amla 55, du Plessis 5) Just three from the over as Rashid keeps both batsmen in their crease. Even with the dew to come later on, England surely have to keep South Africa under 200, somehow.
2.43pm GMT
10th over: South Africa 125-2 (Amla 54, du Plessis 3) The captain is next to the crease, and he joins Amla in a spell of consolidation against Moeen, England’s most effective bowler so far. It lasts all of five balls, before Amla picks his moment, pulling a wide ball for a mighty, mighty six. That’s a half-century off 27 balls for Amla.
2.41pm GMT
...but off Rashid’s final ball, de Villiers slashes high into the offside, and Morgan is underneath it. That’s a most welcome wicket for England, and de Villiers is gone for just 16...
2.39pm GMT
9th over: South Africa 114-1 (Amla 46, de Villiers 16) Rashid to de Villiers, who runs two, but mistimes the next, prompting a weak lbw shout. De Villiers is annoyed with himself, but responds with two monstrous sixes! The first into the stands over mid-on, the second pulled through the leg side as Rashid drags it down...
2.36pm GMT
“At what time do you think South Africa might call their declaration?” honks Andrew Hewitt.
2.35pm GMT
8th over: South Africa 100-1 (Amla 46, de Villiers 2) As some of you have pointed out, South Africa were 83-0, not 832-0, after six overs. To be honest, it felt like the latter. AB de Villiers is in at No3, with du Plessis presumably concerned with the slow run rate. A good over from Moeen, taking a wicket and leaking just four runs. Ton up for South Africa, though.
2.33pm GMT
It may be too little, too late, but England have a breakthrough as de Kock swings for the rope once again, but picks out Hales at deep midwicket.
2.31pm GMT
7th over: South Africa 96-0 (Amla 44, de Kock 52) De Kock has his fifty in 21 balls, thanks to a four from a full Rashid delivery. He’s been exceptional. Rashid mixes it up and briefly stems the flow, but a filthy full toss is dispatched for six to close the over.
2.28pm GMT
6th over: South Africa 83-0 (Amla 37, de Kock 46) A combination of undercooked bowling and ruthless batting has put South Africa firmly on top, but here’s Ben Stokes, who at least tests Amla with a ball that angles in. The respite is brief, as the batsman drives the next through the covers. De Kock finds room outside his off stump, and powers over the covers. This has been a terrible start for England, to say the least.
2.24pm GMT
“Is proto-karaoke allowed?” asks Mark Ramsden. Sure, why not?
“Once saw a guy hand his dog to a pub landlord before singing with the band. Landlord didn’t like him so stood on the dog’s paw which howled throughout My Way.”
2.23pm GMT
5th over: South Africa 72-0 (Amla 32, de Kock 40) Jordan looks to stem the flow. It’s not happening – the first is deep in the crease, and Amla pings it over point for four. The second is straight, and goes to the fence. The third is slower, and guess what? Amla helps it along for another four. The next, on the leg side, is hooked impetuously for six. This is brutal. Amla opens his bat and square drives for another four.
Four, four, four, six, four... dot. I guess that’s something.
2.18pm GMT
One for poor Reece Topley?
Related: The Joy of Six: drops in sport | Tom Bryant
2.17pm GMT
4th over: South Africa 50-0 (Amla 10, de Kock 40) Moeen comes in as England look to stem the tide – but his first ball, outside off, is driven for four. Moeen doesn’t learn, and Amla plays the exact same shot. England up against it, but Amla mistimes his next, and it flies to Topley at extra cover – but he’s dropped it! Oh, mercy me.
De Kock adds to the misery, feathering past Buttler for another boundary. “The power of De Kock... the touch of De Kock” cries Hussain. No giggling at the back.
2.13pm GMT
3rd over: South Africa 37-0 (Amla 1, de Kock 36) David Willey returns, looking for a bit of swing. It’s not happening, and de Kock clubs a short one back down the ground for six, then does it again for four. The bowler goes wide, and he’s punished with a slash through the off side. Four, and he closes the over with an enormous six, belted into the stands. Yeesh! 36 inside three overs for Quinten de Kock.
2.08pm GMT
2nd over: South Africa 17-0 (Amla 1, de Kock 16) Reece Topley is put in early. First ball, de Kock belts a six high over point, then repeats the trick for a four. Another wide ball is belted for another four. Not a great start, this. Morgan refuses to adjust his field, asking Topley to find a better line. He straightens up a touch, and catches Amla on the pads, but it looked to be outside leg stump.
2.03pm GMT
“I sang Pulp’s ‘This is Hardcore’ at a bunch of confused Turkish teenagers in a basement karaoke bar in Istanbul last month” says James Walsh. “It didn’t go down brilliantly.”
2.02pm GMT
1st over: South Africa 2-0 (Amla 1, de Kock 1) Willey is let off by Amla after a loose, wide first ball that the opener doesn’t get hold of. A single into leg side, and de Kock chops at an off-stump delivery. The bowler is keeping things tight, but de Kock edges down to third man for another single.
1.59pm GMT
David Willey will get us started, bowling to Amla...
1.57pm GMT
Here’s Christopher Dale:
“New Zealand taking teams apart with spin, leg spinners abounding, and England persist with medium-fast, high actioned seamers. Even allowing for conditions at the Wankhede, it’s nice to see things never change.”
1.54pm GMT
The players are making their way out at a half-full Wankhede Stadium. Play will be under way in five minutes or so. An early breakthrough would be most welcome for England.
1.48pm GMT
“Bizarrely enough, I went to a karaoke bar in provincial Kazakhstan recently, and they had Blind Faith on their list” says Piers Smettem. “If England are to fail they’ll need a night out like those boys in the video have...”
I once two-stepped to D’Banj’s Oliver Twist in an empty nightclub in Tunisia, but I’d say that beats it. Any more for any more?
1.43pm GMT
Faf du Plessis claimed not to be bothered by losing the toss, and his team selection is similarly gung-ho, with David Wiese making way to allow De Kock, Amla, De Villiers and Faf himself to line up at the top of the order. De Villiers has confirmed to a floating Sky mic that he will bat at No4.
England have lost their last five white-ball games to South Africa, and Nasser Hussain says they have to “banage” – banish and manage, I suppose – that psychological deficit.
1.39pm GMT
England: JJ Roy, AD Hales, JE Root, JC Buttler (wk), EJG Morgan (c), BA Stokes, MM Ali, CJ Jordan, AU Rashid, DJ Willey, RJW Topley.
South Africa: Q de Kock (wk), HM Amla, F du Plessis (c), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, DA Miller, CH Morris, KJ Abbott, DW Steyn, K Rabada, Imran Tahir.
1.36pm GMT
Morgan calls heads, and heads it is – England will have a bowl first, which is no surprise. Morgan confirms that the team will be unchanged, while for South Africa, there’s a place at the top of the order for Quinten de Kock.
1.34pm GMT
One result already in today, with New Zealand notching a second win of the tournament, adding Australia to their opening victory over the hosts. Mitchell McClanagan took three for 17 as Australia, chasing just 143, slipped to 134-9.
1.10pm GMT
Less than 48 hours ago, having set the West Indies an imposing target of 183, England dismissed Jamaal Charles for a duck, and things were looking up. Then Chris Gayle strutted out to the crease and, well, things certainly move fast in this format.
Eoin Morgan’s side head into their second match knowing defeat will leave them needing snookers to keep their title tilt alive. They started the week as dark horses; they could be at the gates of the glue factory by the weekend.
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