England vs South Africa, 2nd T20I at Taunton, Jun 23 2017, South Africa tour of England

RESULT
2nd T20I (D/N), Taunton, June 23, 2017, South Africa tour of England
(20 ov, T:175) 171/6

South Africa won by 3 runs

Player Of The Match
12 (11) & 2/18
chris-morris
Match centre 
Comms: Alan Gardner
Scorecard summary
South Africa 174/8(20 overs)
3/33 (4)
45 (35)
2/36 (4)
England 171/6(20 overs)
67 (45)
2/18 (4)
end of over 208 runs • 1 wicket
ENG: 171/6CRR: 8.55 
Liam Dawson7 (5b 1x4)
Liam Plunkett0 (0b)
Andile Phehlukwayo 4-0-34-1
Dane Paterson 4-0-32-1

8.45pm: That's it from myself and Miller tonight... Thanks for your comments, folks. George's report is in, and we'll see you again for the decider on Sunday.

8.35pm: No time to digest, let's get on with the presentations... England captain Eoin Morgan: "Disappointing, given the position we were in but SA bowled well at the end. [Roy dismissal?] I think it's a 50-50 call, you can see both sides. I think it's a difficult one. [Buttler in above Morgan] Tactical change, right-hander over a left-hander, didn't work out. [Livingstone] A lot of people are tucked away on debut but we want to see how guys perform, and react in the middle. Tom [Curran] was outstanding, skill level was outstanding, he's put on a yard, makes his variations harder. He bowled exceptionally. We want to see these guys play, but we also want to win at the same time."

South Africa captain AB de Villiers: [You've been out obstructing the field] Benoni, I'll never forget, but to be fair I was a little bit guilty. We were in the right to ask the question and it was up to the umpire, never nice to get out like that. I asked the boys to take it one ball at a time. We had better intent, better energy, good plans. [Huddle before innings?] We discussed the wicket, what we felt was a difficult length, change-ups, the bouncer. Then it was about the energy and showing the South African never-say-die attitude. We love the game back home and to see us come out on top means a lot - and now we have a decider on Sunday. [Morgan catch] I saw the church not the ball, so it was quite interesting. [Phehlukwayo final over] I told them to expect big moments, I'm going to throw them in and they delivered."

Chris Morris is named Man of the Match for his 2 for 18: "Very happy with today's performance, we showed fight, been in tough times recently. It's an honour to play for SA, so very happy. We thought so, we had to bowl well, but saw how England tied us down at the end, thought we had a chance. In T20 it's quite easy to lay down and get beaten, so you have to show fight. I enjoyed the wicket, not just me, our bowlers bowled well at the death - Dane Paterson in his third game. All-round a great performance. [Cardiff on Sunday] It's going to be exciting, someone has to lose, try not to be us."

8.30pm: Well, that blew up out of nowhere... England were 125 for 1, needing 50 off 39 balls when Bairstow fell for 47; Roy was then given out obstructing the field (rightly enough) in Chris Morris' next over and it all began to unravel. In all, England lost 5 for 46 from the last 6.3 overs as South Africa - all of the bowlers playing their part but inspired by Morris - fought back tremendously to level the series at 1-1 with a decider to play on Sunday.

"So SA 30 runs light." Touche, Ceddars

19.6
Phehlukwayo to Dawson, no run

Dawson swings and misses... SA have done it! Huge celebrations from Phehlukwayo, who is engulfed by his team-mates after closing out a fantastic match, South Africe winning by three runs off the final ball!

Four needed, three for a Super Over...

19.5
4
Phehlukwayo to Dawson, FOUR runs

there's one, slugged over mid-off! Just lands short of the rope, too... Phehlukwayo misses the yorker and Dawson gets under it to keep England in the running!

Liam Plunkett heads out... England need boundaries, two balls left to bowl

19.4
1W
Phehlukwayo to Livingstone, 1 run, OUT

full toss, Livingstone scoops without making a proper connection... and then runs himself out by charging back to the striker's end looking for a second that his partner wasn't even beginning to consider - Dawson had his back to Livingstone and hadn't moved! A strange ending to a strange innings on debut from Livingstone

Liam Livingstone run out (Morkel/†Mosehle/Phehlukwayo) 16 (18b 1x4 0x6 39m) SR: 88.88
19.3
1
Phehlukwayo to Dawson, 1 run

dances down, sliced over backward point, lands short of third man and again it will only be one

19.2
1
Phehlukwayo to Livingstone, 1 run

pitched up again and Livo cloths a shot through cover for one more

"Looks Livingstone ahead of Morgan costs match for England," muses Simha

19.1
1
Phehlukwayo to Dawson, 1 run

lands the wide yorker, Dawson can't do much more than bludgeon through the covers

Phehlukwayo to bowl the last...

end of over 199 runs • 1 wicket
ENG: 163/5CRR: 8.57 RRR: 12.00
Liam Dawson1 (1b)
Liam Livingstone14 (16b 1x4)
Dane Paterson 4-0-32-1
Andile Phehlukwayo 3-0-26-1

SA are edging ahead in the equation, 12 off the last six needed... and it's beginning to get dark in Taunton. No floodlights to call on, England are going to have to grope through to the end

18.6
1
Paterson to Dawson, 1 run

full, 87mph and dug out down to long-on for just a single

Liam Dawson heads out, the game still in the balance... Can Paterson finish off a decent over?

18.5
W
Paterson to Morgan, OUT

got him, chips a full toss to mid-on this time! De Villiers gestures to say he didn't pick it up until the last moment... but he held the catch and Paterson has his maiden international wicket at a crucial moment in the game!

Eoin Morgan c de Villiers b Paterson 6 (4b 1x4 0x6 10m) SR: 150

Down to 13 off eight...

18.4
4
Paterson to Morgan, FOUR runs

misses his mark and Morgan blooters it back past mid-on for four! Full but not quite full enough and Morgan hammered a half-volley past the diving de Villiers for four

18.3
1
Paterson to Livingstone, 1 run

another good yorker, right up on the crease as Livingstone chops down on it... and breaks his bat! Bits of wood go flying as they scuttle through and Paterson unsuccessfully tries to run out Morgan in his follow through. It's all happening!

18.3
1w
Paterson to Livingstone, 1 wide

ooh, he's a tad unlucky this time, Livo skips down and then can't reach the ball as Paterson appears to hit the tramline... but again called wide

18.3
1w
Paterson to Livingstone, 1 wide

banged in short, this gets up very high as Livingstone flails at it - this time gets the decision

18.2
Paterson to Livingstone, no run

well bowled, full and very wide, Livingstone is trying to smash every delivery and fails to get any bat on it

18.1
1
Paterson to Morgan, 1 run

shortish on the body and Morgan is happy to just nudge one more to leg

Two overs to go, England need 21... Paterson to bowl

end of over 188 runs • 1 wicket
ENG: 154/4CRR: 8.55 RRR: 10.50
Liam Livingstone13 (14b 1x4)
Eoin Morgan1 (1b)
Andile Phehlukwayo 3-0-26-1
Dane Paterson 3-0-23-0

Anns: "Alan any history between Morris and Livingstone? Pleas do reply." Not that I know of... but it was certainly a catalyst

17.6
Phehlukwayo to Livingstone, no run

full toss from Phehlukwayo, the batsman had gone across for the scoop... but he misses! Livingstone was hoping to get a no-ball on height there, it was a tight one but the umpires aren't giving it. He had crouched into the shot, so even though it appeared to pass above waist height, that was probably a good call

17.5
1
Phehlukwayo to Morgan, 1 run

length ball, squirted away off the hips for one through midwicket

This has been a superb squeeze from SA... In comes England's ice man, Eoin Morgan, with the pressure on

17.4
W
Phehlukwayo to Buttler, OUT

bowled him, nails the yorker! Superb from Phehlukwayo, caught Buttler in two minds, trying to anticipate what was coming and done by a stump-detonator

Jos Buttler b Phehlukwayo 10 (8b 1x4 0x6 14m) SR: 125

"Here is the link." Excellent work, Benny. Roy's in rare company

17.3
2
Phehlukwayo to Buttler, 2 runs

slower ball from Lucky, sits up outside off and Buttler slaps it mercilessly back down the ground, long-on cuts it off

"Was that really two years ago?! I still remember the look of righteous indignation on Stokes' face!" Not a sight you'd forget easily, Hoover

17.2
1
Phehlukwayo to Livingstone, 1 run

pitched up in the channel, rubbery-wristed drive for one through the covers

Meanwhile, Firdose has a scoop: Uncapped wicketkeeper batsman Heino Kuhn, who made a century against England Lions, and before that 200 against Hampshire, is set to be included in South Africa's Test squad to play England

17.1
4
Phehlukwayo to Livingstone, FOUR runs

bouncer to start with and Livingstone gets it away on the pull, top-edgey but it sails behind square and runs to the fence

England edge ahead - maybe - with 11 off Paterson. Still 29 needed from three, Andile Phehlukwayo to bowl the first of them

Best performances - batters
Spike Graph
Wagon Zone
JJ Roy
67 runs (45)
9 fours1 six
Productive shot
pull
29 runs
4 fours0 six
Control
70%
JM Bairstow
47 runs (37)
8 fours1 six
Productive shot
pull
15 runs
2 fours1 six
Control
70%
Best performances - bowlers
TK Curran
O
4
M
0
R
33
W
3
ECO
8.25
FTYFGSGS
OFFLEG
RHB
1W
1W
LEGOFF
LHB
1W
CH Morris
O
4
M
0
R
18
W
2
ECO
4.5
FTYFGSGS
OFFLEG
RHB
1W
1W
Match details
County Ground, Taunton
TossEngland, elected to field first
Series
Season2017
Player Of The Match
Series result3-match series level 1-1
Match numberT20I no. 615
Hours of play (local time)17.00 start, First Session 17.00-18.20 Interval 18.20-18.40, Second Session 18.40-20.00
Match days23 June 2017 - daynight (20-over match)
T20I debut
Umpires
TV Umpire
Reserve Umpire
Match Referee
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Instant answers to T20 questions
England Innings
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