huhhello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s live coverage of the 2nd match in the Twenty20 international series between England and South Africa, taking place at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.
England won the first game of the three-game series in Bristol last night by 41 runs, with Moeen Ali taking England’s fastest half-century in the T20 and Jonny Bairstow coming within 10 of his century.
South Africa dropped to 7-2 after two overs and could only make 193-8 in response to England’s 234, despite Tristan Stubbs’ 72 from 28 balls.
South African captain David Miller insisted there was still plenty to play for even after last night’s defeat. The series ends Sunday afternoon in Southampton.
Miller said: “They wrecked us in the last 10, but we dropped four or five catches, which cost us a lot in the field.
“They executed their plans in the back better than we did.
“It was a great wicket and the boys put in a massive total. Phenomenal knock by Stubbsy (Tristan Stubbs), extremely disappointing result, but there are two more to get it right.”
Taking full advantage of the modest size of Bristol’s Seat Unique Stadium, Moeen reached his 50 in just 16 balls, beating teammate Liam Livingstone’s year-old record by one throw.
He said: “It means a lot, there are guys in our dressing room who score fast and now I can boast of the fastest 50 in T20 cricket for England. I go to the locker room and give it big.
“It’s a great thing to be proud of, but I’m sure it will be broken soon. This was nice ground for someone like me who isn’t the most massive hit of a ball like some of the guys.
“You can hit sixes here, you pick the bowlers you like and go after them. I just watched a few balls and then played my shots.”
In their total of 234 for six against the tourists, their second highest ever in a T20 international, England hit more sixes than ever before in a T20 international, 20 of them.