Cape Town - Imran Tahir equalled his best ever figures in T20 internationals as the Proteas restricted England to 134/8 in the first clash of the series at Newlands on Friday.
After South African captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to field first under dark skies - with light rain having fallen earlier - England took full advantage of some wayward bowling early on.
Openers Alex Hales and Jason Roy got stuck into Kyle Abbott and Kagiso Rabada, who bowled too short and wide, which saw England off to a rollicking start at 36/0 off three overs.
But Rabada got his revenge in the fourth over when a clever slower ball from the back of the hand lured Roy (15) into a pull short, and he held out to a good catch by Hashim Amla at wide mid-on.
However, after reaching the 50 mark off just six overs, England lost their way entirely with poor shot selection and disciplined bowling and fielding from the home side.
Hales (27 off 21 balls, 5x4) - who was dropped by JP Duminy on 24 - looked in good touch, but fell to Tahir’s fourth ball as he skied the ball to deep extra cover. Both Duminy - who came off the boundary - and Rabada chased after the catch and thudded into each other. But fortunately for the Proteas, they didn’t sustain any injuries and Duminy held on for an excellent catch.
The visitors, though - perhaps due to their lengthy batting - continued to go for their shots instead of building partnerships, and it cost them dearly as they lost five wickets for the addition of just 29 runs as Joe Root (8), Ben Stokes (11), captain Eoin Morgan (10) and Moeen Ali (0) all got out cheaply.
The highlight of those dismissals was Tahir’s terrific googly to Stokes, which saw the left-hander misread it completely, and wicket-keeper AB de Villiers took the bails off in a flash.
De Villiers took the gloves after Quinton de Kock was rested due to a knee complaint. Proteas team doctor Mohammed Moosajee said in a statement that De Kock had injured his right knee before the third Test against England in January - apparently while walking his dogs the night before - and that he was “still slightly symptomatic” despite having been cleared to play since.
De Kock will also miss Sunday’s second T20 international against England at the Wanderers as a precaution, with the ICC World T20 tournament coming up soon, but will be available for the three-match T20 series against Australia next month.
Tahir was on a hat-trick after Moeen’s departure, and produced another superb googly to Chris Jordan, who was beaten between bat and pad. But the ball missed everything and Jordan survived.
England wicket-keeper Jos Buttler accumulated 32 not out off 30 balls (2x4), but the Proteas will be well-pleased to have to chase just 135 for victory.
Tahir finished with 4/21 off his four overs to match his best performance in T20Is against The Netherlands in the 2014 ICC World T20, while David Wiese varied his pace well to concede just 19 runs off his four overs and the wicket of Root for eight.
The other wicket-takers were Kyle Abbott (2/31 in four) and Rabada (1/29 in four).
With De Kock out, the Proteas opted to pick both Rilee Rossouw and David Miller, with Farhaan Behardien the only specialist batsman to miss out on selection.
Teams for Newlands:
South Africa: Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers (wk), Faf du Plessis (captain), JP Duminy, Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, David Wiese, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Kyle Abbott, Imran Tahir.
England: Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (captain), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Reece Topley.
@IndyCapeSport
Independent Media