Marco Jansen made a successful return from injury as South Africa beat England by 14 runs in a rain-affected first Twenty20 International on Wednesday.
The three-match series opener was reduced to a five-over chase after heavy rain in Cardiff. South Africa had earlier posted 97 for five in 7.5 overs, with Aiden Markram (28 off 14), Dewald Brevis (23 off 10) and Donovan Ferreira (25 not out off 11) leading the charge.
England were handed a revised target of 69 but fell short, finishing on 54 for five. Jos Buttler offered resistance with 25 from 11 balls before becoming Jansen’s second victim. The tall left-arm pacer finished with figures of 2-18 from two overs.
You can’t read too much into that the field was very wet in patches and we didn’t execute as well as we could with the ball, England captain Harry Brook said afterwards. Asked if the conditions had been suitable for play, he added,The big dogs above me make the decisions.
For England, Luke Wood claimed 2-22 while Sam Curran, back in the side, impressed with 1-11 from his single over.
Markram, captaining South Africa, praised his side’s composure under pressure. Getting a decent score on the board was pleasing, and the bowlers stuck to their plans. Marco has been out for a while, and to see him run in with that energy and set the tone was very important.
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