Kobus Pretorius reflects on the players and moments that shaped their World T20 clash with England in Mumbai on Friday.
BATSMAN OF THE DAY
Joe Root was crowned Man of the Match for his 83 off 44 balls which paved the way for England to chase down 230 for victory. Even after being pushed down the order to accommodate Ben Stokes at No 3 Root showed his worth and was the backbone of the English chase.
SHOT OF THE DAY
Jason Roy’s spectacular on drive off Kagiso Rabada in the first over. Roy got the England chase off to the perfect start with 43 from just 16 deliveries.
BOWLER OF THE DAY
Everyone took a pasting, but it has to be one of the spinners. Moeen Ali (2-34) and Adil Rashid (1-35) were the pick of the English bowlers, but I’ll give it to Imran Tahir who conceded 28 runs in his four overs for the lowest economy rate of the game.
DELIVERY OF THE DAY
Kyle Abbott bowled some very effective yorkers so I’ll go for his dismissal of Alex Hales, who he trapped lbw for 17.
CATCH OF THE DAY
Shared between David Miller and JP Duminy. Miller had to make up some ground on the boundary to get the big wicket of Root, while Duminy was just as good in taking the catch which brought Chris Jordan’s innings to an end, also on the boundary.
PITY THE BOWLERS
It was a bad day to be a bowler. The curator produced a brilliant batting surface at the Wankhede stadium which made some esteemed bowlers look decidedly ordinary. Of the 13 bowlers used by both sides, only three managed an economy rate under 10.
Picture: Associated Press