England's quick 1 day blitz tour around the Cape

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Ben Stokes has been named in England's Twenty20 squad for next month's white-ball tour of South Africa.

The all-rounder missed the second half of the international summer to be with his father, Ged, who has brain cancer.

England will play three Twenty20s and three one-day internationals from 27 November, all behind closed doors.

Stokes, seamer Jofra Archer and all-rounder Sam Curran are in the T20 squad but will be rested for the one-day series.

All three have been playing in the Indian Premier League which is taking place in the United Arab Emirates and will return home from South Africa after the T20 series.

"There are several players who play every format for England, we are just very mindful of the amount of cricket we've got coming," national selector Ed Smith said.

"We want them to be at their best when they're playing for England and that will mean taking some opportunities to rest from cricket."

England are scheduled to play Sri Lanka and India early in 2021 but neither tour has been confirmed.

Pakistan have also invited England to take part in a short limited-overs tour early next year.


Stokes returned to cricket with the Rajasthan Royals in October and averaged 40.71 in this season's IPL.

"Ben is an exceptional competitor; a winner and someone who gives to the team," Smith added.

Captain Eoin Morgan, who is also playing in the IPL with Kolkata Knight Riders, will lead England in both formats.

The team will travel to South Africa on 16 November, with games played at Cape Town's Newlands and in nearby Paarl.

They will be based in Cape Town and will train at Western Province Cricket Club, playing three intra-squad matches before the first T20.

The three ODI matches will count towards qualification for the 2023 World Cup in India.

Meanwhile, the England and Wales Cricket Board has announced it will invest £1m in grassroots cricket.

The #Funds4Runs campaign, jointly funded with LV=General Insurance, will help support cricket communities impacted by Covid-19.

Clubs can register their interest on the ECB website.

Squads
Twenty20 squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) (captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Reece Topley (Surrey), Mark Wood (Durham).

One-day squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) (captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Tom Curran (Surrey), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Reece Topley (Surrey), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).

Reserves across both formats: Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Tom Banton (Somerset), Tom Helm (Middlesex).

South Africa tour schedule
Friday, 27 November - first T20, Newlands, Cape Town (16:00 GMT)
Sunday 29 November - second T20, Boland Park, Paarl (12:30 GMT)
Tuesday 1 December - third T20, Newlands, Cape Town (16:00 GMT)
Friday 4 December - first ODI, Newlands, Cape Town (11:00 GMT)
Sunday 6 December - second ODI, Boland Park, Paarl (08:00 GMT)
Wednesday 9 December - third ODI, Newlands, Cape Town (11:00 GMT)

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Possibly in doubt due to South African cricketing politics

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3 home players have Covid

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Another South African gone down with the virus

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Bit of an in house warm up game

Team Buttler 255 (Root 77, Billings 52, T Curran 4-25) beat Team Morgan 205 (Woakes 55, Gregory 3-18) by 50 runs

England began preparations for their white-ball series against South Africa with a 40-over intra-squad game at Newlands in which all 23 players in the touring party enjoyed a run-out. The team led by vice-captain Jos Buttler prevailed, their 50-run win built on the foundations of a century partnership between Joe Root and Sam Billings.

Root, who is only part of the ODI squad, quickly found his form after a two-month break from the game with a run-a-ball 77, as he and Billings lifted Team Buttler from 88 for 3. They were eventually bowled out in the 40th over, with Tom Curran taking 4 for 25 in his 6.1 overs.

In their response, Team Morgan slipped to 102 for 6 before a stand of 79 between Chris Woakes and Tom Curran added a level of respectability to the encounter. The wickets were shared around, with Jofra Archer bowling a tight opening spell, Lewis Gregory claiming three-for and Olly Stone bowling quickly in taking 1 for 27 from his six overs.

England had pressed ahead with their scheduled warm-up game despite South Africa cancelling a similar fixture due to a second positive Covid-19 test in their camp. Buttler won the toss and elected to bat first at Newlands, where the first T20I will be staged on Friday.

Early wickets for Reece Topley, Mark Wood and Tom Curran kept Team Buttler in check before Root and Billings produced a stand of 103 inside 14 overs. Billings struck sixes off Moeen Ali and Jake Ball on the way to a sparky 52 from 44 balls, but the Team Buttler innings fell away at the death.

Wood claimed 3 for 48 from seven overs - the most by any bowler involved - while Curran proved difficult to get away on a slow surface as his four-for wrapped up the innings.

Scoring quickly proved a challenge in the second innings, too, and Team Morgan were soon behind the required rate. Eoin Morgan's 20 was the highest score among the top six, as Archer and Sam Curran struck during new-ball spells and then Root's part-time spin tempted Ben Stokes into a mishit down the ground. Woakes crunched 55 from 41 before being stumped off Adil Rashid and Gregory cleaned up the tail with 4.1 overs left unbowled.

England will next play back-to-back T20 warm-up games in Paarl on Monday, before returning to Cape Town ahead of start of the three-match T20I series.

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Win toss and bowl

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South Africa 179-6 Faf 55

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Won with 4 balls to spare by 5 wickets Bairstow 86 not out

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England 183 for 5 (Bairstow 86*, Linde 2-20) beat South Africa 179 for 6 (van der Dussen 58, S Curran 3-28) by five wickets

Jonny Bairstow's highest T20I score carried England to a final-over victory over South Africa in the first T20I in Cape Town.


Most players perform at their best when they feel valued and secure. But others - notably Kevin Pietersen in 2012 - seem to be at their best when they have a point to prove.

Bairstow appears to fit into this second category. Having forged an excellent reputation as an opener in ODI cricket, he would have been understandably disappointed to be demoted to No. 4 in the T20I team as England preferred Jason Roy and Jos Buttler at the top of the order. Having already seen his Test career falter after he was asked to move up the order and relinquish the gloves, he could be forgiven wondering if history might be repeating itself.

But from his first delivery - when he quite beautifully threaded the field with a dab to the third man boundary - he looked in imperious touch. And if there were times he hit the ball murderously hard - a heaved six over long-on off the back foot from deep inside the crease off Tabraiz Shamsi - there were also moments, such as when he guided the ball behind point with precision, when he demonstrated his touch and timing.

England were in some trouble during Bairstow's early moments at the crease. While South Africa made 57 for 1 in their six-over Powerplay, England were restricted to just 34 for 3, with all those promoted above Bairstow dismissed.

For a while, as Bairstow and Ben Stokes thrashed the ball around Cape Town, memories were revived of their vast stand of 399 in the New Year Test of 2016. On this occasion they added 85 off 8.4 overs, until Stokes heaved a long-hop down the throat of long-on and England's innings stalled. With 25 balls remaining, they still required 55.

But a nine-ball over from Beuran Hendricks - the 17th of the innings - was taken for 28 runs by Bairstow to put England back on track. And while Lungi Ngidi conceded just five and took the wicket of Eoin Morgan from the 18th, the nerveless Sam Curran thrashed his second ball for six off the faultless Kagiso Rabada to keep England in the hunt.

Even then there were seven required from the final over. But with Bairstow pulling the first ball of the over for four and carting the second for six over mid-on, England clinched a five-wicket victory with four deliveries remaining.

Whether this proves Bairstow's point - that he belongs at the top of the order - or the team management's - that he can play an important role in the middle-order - is debatable. But by producing a high-class innings and also seeing his side home, Bairstow must have gone a long way towards making his place in the side safe.

Linde's fine start

Given the pace options available to South Africa, you wonder how much time England gave to thinking about the left-arm spin of George Linde ahead of this match. As it happened, though, Anrich Nortje - the quickest bowler at the IPL - was omitted so South Africa could include two spinners in Linde and Shamsi.

Linde, on T20I debut, enjoyed a particularly impressive day. Bowling two overs in the Powerplay, including the first of the innings, he gained a surprising amount of turn and, having dismissed Jason Roy, edging an attempted cut, from the second ball of the innings, had the world's top-rated T20I batsman, Dawid Malan (brilliantly) caught sweeping a few minutes later. In all, he conceded just 20 runs from his four overs - the most economical return in the match - and contributed with that bat, too, hitting 12 from six deliveries at the death.

Tom Curran fails to take chance

At the start of this year, Mark Wood bowled with such pace and hostility in South Africa - albeit in Test cricket - that it seemed hard to imagine a scenario where England would leave him out. Since then, however, he's spent more time carrying drinks than charging in and was recently given just a limited-overs central contract. Sometimes it seems England don't appreciate quite what a gem they have in Wood.

Sure enough, he was left out again here. But, in a funny way, his case for selection might have been made for him by the struggles of the man who won the nod ahead of him. For Tom Curran conceded 55 here - his worst T20I figures - including four sixes. None of his colleagues conceded more than one six and there were only seven in the South African innings.

Curran started well enough. His first ove in the Powerplay cost only three. But his second was plundered for 24 - the most expensive of his T20I career - as Faf du Plessis appeared to target him.

It wasn't that he bowled especially poorly. It was more that, without the extra pace offered by the likes of Wood, his control of length has to be immaculate. But here he bowled either short or on a length and, without much variation from his cutters, was carted for each of those sixes over the leg side. With England using this series in the hope of settling upon a T20 World Cup line-up, it may have proved an expensive evening for Tom Curran.

Sam Curran shines


It was a much better day for Sam Curran. After winning the race for selection against Moeen Ali - in truth, after the impressive IPL Curran enjoyed, he was always going to play - he took the new ball and took a wicket in the first over. His two Powerplay overs cost a respectable 13, with four of those runs coming from an edge just wide of slip.

But it was his bowling when he returned for the 14th over that was most impressive. Going round wicket, cramping the batsmen for room and demanding they attempt to hit to the longest boundary, he claimed two more wickets - his 3 for 28 was the best return of his brief T20I career - with an accurate and surprisingly sharp bouncer complemented by cutters that left the batsmen struggling to settle against him. Later, his six from the penultimate over calmed England's nerves just as it appeared South Africa could hold on.

Afterwards Curran reasoned that the regular cricket he had enjoyed at the IPL going into this series had given him something of an advantage in terms of rhythm. But it was another remarkably mature performance from a 22-year-old who already seems to have been around for years.

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2 nd game at Paarl we win toss and field again

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SA 146/6

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Won by 4 wickets with 1 ball to go

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England 147 for 6 (Malan 55, Shamsi 3-19) beat South Africa 146 for 7 (de Kock 30) by four wickets

Dawid Malan justified his standing as the top-ranked batsman in T20I cricket with a match-winning half-century in the second match of the series against South Africa in Paarl.

On a surface upon which nobody else could pass 30, Malan produced an innings of 55 from 40 balls to see England to a victory which gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. The final game takes place in Cape Town on Tuesday.

This was not, in many ways, a typical T20. With the pitch offering just a little grip, run-scoring proved problematic throughout the game and England's reply looked some way off the pace until well into their chase.

So, instead of the skills for which this format is famed - the big hits, the audacious strokes, the outrageous strike-rates - Malan was instead obliged to demonstrate a calm head and an ability to pace the innings.

He did so beautifully. After 30 deliveries, Malan had scored just 25. But he held his nerve and, from his next nine balls, thrashed five fours and a six as he timed England's chase to something close to perfection.

Although he wasn't quite able to see England home - he was quite brilliantly caught by Reeza Hendricks, demonstrating both the presence of mind and athleticism to keep the ball in play on the long-off boundary - by the time he was dismissed, his side required just a run a ball. Despite a characteristically excellent final over from Kagiso Rabada, which brought the dismissal of Sam Curran, Chris Jordan was able to squeeze the penultimate ball of the match behind square for the run England required to seal the result.

It was the ninth time Malan had passed 50 in his 18 T20I innings. And, on the ground where he made his first-class debut back in 2006, you suspect it would have been one of the more satisfying ones. It was also the sort of performance which justifies his on-going selection ahead of Joe Root.

And while England may feel there is still room for improvement in their performance, they may take satisfaction from winning a tight game on this sort of surface. With the T20 World Cup scheduled to played in India, this is the sort of pitch - and, perhaps, the sort of low-scoring match - to which they will need to become accustomed if they are to fulfil their dream of holding both the 50-over and 20-over World Cups at the same time.

Slow going

South Africa started well enough. They were 49 for 1 after one delivery of the sixth over (England were 29 for 1 at the same stage) and surely targeting a score in excess of 160. But their over-reliance upon Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis was underlined once more by the struggles of the middle-order.

Once de Kock was dismissed, from the second delivery of that final powerplay over, South Africa only managed two boundaries off the bat in the next 12-and-a-half overs (there was one set of wides that went to the boundary) and none at all from the first ball of the 10th until the fourth ball of the 18th. Rassie van der Dussen, who faced 29 deliveries for 25 unbeaten runs without managing a boundary, found life especially difficult.

Inevitably, thoughts strayed to what might have been, had the likes of AB de Villiers, Rilee Rossouw and Colin Ingram been part of this middle-order.

Archer and Rashid re-affirm their value

Perhaps such an analysis of South Africa's innings is unfair as it doesn't reflect the slower-than-expected surface or provide enough credit to England's bowlers. Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid, in particular, bowled beautifully in conceding 41 between them from their eight overs. The pair delivered 22 dot balls between them and only conceded one boundary each.

Archer's record is, perhaps, particularly impressive as he tends to bowl the majority of his overs in the powerplay - he typically bowls two upfront - and at the death. Despite this, since the start of the IPL, he has conceded just 4.62 runs an over on average in the 30 overs of powerplay overs he has delivered.

Whatever issues England may have to resolve ahead of the T20 World Cup, those two spots are, fitness permitting, certain.

The record holders

Both Jordan and Rashid achieved records of sorts during the South Africa innings. With the wicket of de Kock, Jordan drew level with Stuart Broad as England's top wicket-taker in this international format. Both men have now have 65 with Jordan having slightly the better strike-rate but Broad maintaining the better average and economy rate.

Rashid, meanwhile, drew level with Graeme Swann as England's top T20I wicket-taker among spinners. Both have 51 wickets, with only Jordan and Broad above them among England players. A glance at those stats also provides a reminder of what a top player Swann was for England: his wickets came in a dozen fewer games than Rashid and with a favourable economy rate (6.36 to 7.57), average (16.84 to 25.41) and strike-rate (15.80 to 20.10). The game may well have moved on, but those remain excellent statistics.

Impressive though such figures are, England still do not have anyone within the top 10 of T20I wicket takers. Lasith Malinga, with 107 wickets, leads the way.

Shamsi's best

Tabraiz Shamsi didn't deserve to be on the losing side after a career-best T20I performance.

Shamsi, the left-arm wristspinner, claimed 3 for 19 as he made excellent use of a large playing area that made six-hitting more problematic than in the first game, and a surface offering just enough grip to aid his spin. In dismissing Jos Buttler, who was beaten by drift as he charged down the pitch, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes, who both mishit sweeps, he went a long way towards derailing England's reply.

The decision to recall Anrich Nortje in place of Beuran Hendricks, who delivered a game-defining 17th over on Friday which conceded 28 runs, also added depth to the South Africa attack. Nortje bowled with pace and precision in conceding just four from his first two overs and twice striking Malan on the body.

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SA 191-3
84 from the last 5 overs

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Won at a canter by 9 wickets Malan 99 not Buttler 60 plus not