Rain bestows South Africa with a win against England in Cardiff

WEB DESK: South Africa shrugged off soggy skies and a fired-up England to grab a 14-run win via DLS in the first T20I at Cardiff, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The clash, delayed by more than two hours, was reduced to nine overs a side before rain chopped South Africa’s innings further at 7.5 overs. Their 97 for 5 became a stiff ask for England, who were left chasing 69 in just five overs.

Markram, Brevis and Ferreira light it up

Captain Aiden Markram, fresh off an R14 million payday at the SA20 auction, top-scored with 28 off 14, striking cleanly down the ground. He found support first from teenager Lhuan-dre Pretorius, and then from Dewald Brevis and Donovan Ferreira, whose 36 off 15 balls gave the visitors momentum.

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Brevis, who broke the SA20 pay record with a R16.5 million bid the night before, justified the hype with a no-look six and two more monster blows against spin before falling to Sam Curran’s disguised slower ball. Ferreira backed him up with bold hitting that ensured South Africa were ahead of the curve when the rain came.

England stumble in the chase

England’s target required a daunting 13.8 per over, but the contest was effectively over inside the first two overs. Kagiso Rabada, returning after an ankle layoff, struck first ball to remove Phil Salt, while Marco Jansen, back after three months, got rid of Jacob Bethell and then Jos Buttler.

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Buttler, promoted back to opener, briefly gave England hope with 25 off 11 but found little support. Harry Brook fell for a duck, and with wickets tumbling, the chase fizzled to 54 for 5.

Wood’s bright spot

England’s late swap of Jofra Archer for Luke Wood nearly paid off. The left-arm seamer bowled with swing and intent, taking out Ryan Rickelton first ball and later dismissing Pretorius with Brook’s superb diving catch. He finished with 2 for 22 in a shortened game.

What’s next

The win was South Africa’s despite missing Lungi Ngidi and Keshav Maharaj to injury. Nandre Burger has been drafted in for the rest of the series. England, meanwhile, will need quick answers ahead of the second T20I in Manchester on Friday.

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