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England 304 for 2; Salt 141 not out sets up crushing 146-run victory
England scored their highest T20I total and the third-highest in history; Phil Salt broke his own record as the holder of England’s highest individual score in the format and scored the fastest cebtury by an English batter, off 39 balls as South Africa were whip-lashed. England leveled the series 1-1 with their biggest win in this format. The result means Sunday’s match will decide the series.
On a belter of track, England hit 30 fours and 18 sixes for a total of 228 runs in boundaries. That made up 75% of their score of 304 for 2, headlined by Salt. He has four hundreds, the most by an England batter and five of their top eight scorers.
South Africa’s bowlers have never conceded more in a T20I innings and three of their attack are in the top six of the most expensive returns in a match. Kagiso Rabada (0 for 70), Lizaad Williams (0 for 62) and Marco Jansen (0 for 60) were all returning from injuries and though they each had a brief outing in the series opener in Cardiff, this game will be considered their comeback, proper. They won’t be pleased with how they showed up.
Among the many things that went wrong for them was discipline as South Africa conceded eight wides and five no-balls and effectively bowled two extra overs at England. All told, South Africa have conceded 772 in the last 75 overs on this tour, across the third ODI and first and second T20Is.
Though South Africa have the record for the highest successful chase in this format – 259-4 this was a much tougher task. They needed to score at 15.25 runs per over and, despite reaching 50 for 0 after 21 balls, were never really in the hunt. Aiden Markram’s 41 off 20 balls was his highest score in 18 innings but he lacked support. Bjorn Fortuin’s 16-ball 32 was the next highest score and concerns over the middle order remain.
A century in the Powerplay
England were on it from ball one, when Salt sliced a full, wide ball from Jansen over point for four. And ball two, when Salt slammed Jansen through fine leg for four more. And ball three, when he cut Jansen in half in his followthrough for a third successive boundary. You get the picture. Jansen’s opening over cost 18, not his most expensive, but joint-third. Rabada’s first over of the innings cost 7 before Jos Buttler took 22 off Williams. Left-arm spinner Fortuin conceded 20 first-up and then Rabada changed ends and got pasted for 20. Buttler reached his fastest fifty in the format off Rabada, off the 18th ball he faced, when he boshed a short ball through square leg. Nineteen-year old Kwena Maphaka closed out the Powerplay in an over that went for 12, as Buttler raced to 65 off 24 balls.
Pouring Salt in the wounds
While Buttler dominated the first six overs, he was dismissed in the eighth when he swept Fortuin to Tristan Stubbs at deep backward square and left it to Salt to add the spice. He did not disappoint. The over after Buttler was dismissed, Salt laid into Williams, who tried to change his pace and bowl the yorker but neither worked. Salt sent a legcutter over midwicket for six, brought up his fifty off 19 balls off the first attempted yorker and hit the second, which turned into a wide full toss, over extra cover for six more.
By then, South Africa were clueless. Maphaka tried a slower ball and Salt sent it over short leg, then he went short and Salt pulled fine, and even when he got it on a good length, Salt sent it down the ground. He took England to 166 for 1 at the halfway stage. When Rabada returned, to bowl the 13th over, Salt took advantage of two free hits as the senior seamer struggled for rhythm, then reached his century off the second. And Salt wasn’t done there. When he stepped outside his stumps and sent Williams over square leg for six, he became the holder of the highest individual score for England in T20Is. He survived when Maphaka thought he had caught Salt at wide long-on with a relay catch but replays showed Maphaka’s heels were on the boundary cushion and he conceded another six. Salt finished on 141 not out from 60 balls, the seventh highest score in a T20I.
An Archer hat-trick but not the traditional way
Jofra Archer was rested from the rain-reduced first T20I but roared back and played a part in each of the first three South African wickets. After South Africa got off to a decent start with 50 runs in the first 3.3 overs, they were starting to hit their stride. Ryan Rickelton took 16 runs off the first three balls of Archer’s second over and thought he had four more when he viciously swiped at the fourth ball but Liam Dawson at short midwicket pulled off the ultimate intercept to end his innings. Rickelton was dismissed for 20. Three deliveries later, Archer’s slower ball had the better of Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who top-edged a slog-sweep and was caught at short third. South Africa were 53 for 2 after five overs. They already needed a massive effort to hunt down the target but with Dewald Brevis at No.4, they would have still believed.
Brevis hit the first ball he faced, from Sam Curran, for four but then tried to send Curran over mid-wicket and miscued. Archer was at mid-on and barely had to move to complete the catch which left South Africa 57 for 4 in the Powerplay and the game all but gone. Archer did get a third, when he returned in the 12th over, with South Africa 115 for 5. Jansen played a legcutter straight back to Archer who had to get down low and then recover from the ball busting out of his right hand as he clutched it in his left to complete the catch. And for good measure, he took two more catches, to dismiss Tristan Stubbs and Kagiso Rabada.
Curran aims for the moon
Super-duper slow (aka the moon-ball) is the Sam Curran way and he was the pick of the English bowlers as he used his change-ups well. While Curran bowled some deliveries at around 47mph, he had Brevis caught off a quicker one and Donovan Ferreira was deceived by a short ball. Ferreira tried to hit a cross-batted slog but skied the ball over Buttler, who did well to run back and take the catch. Curran finished with 2 for 11 in two overs with an economy of 5.50. Only Will Jacks, who took two wickets in his only over and conceded two runs, had a better return with 2 for 1.
Brief scores:
England 304 for 2 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 141*, Jos Buttler 83, Jacob Bethell 26, Harry Brook 41*; Bjorn Fortuin 2-52) beat South Africa 158 in 16.1 overs (Aiden Markram 41, Ryan Rickelton 20, Tristan Stubbs 23, Donovan Ferreira 23, Bjorn Fortuin 32; Jofra Archer 3-25, Sam Curran 2-11, Liam Dawson 2-34, Adil Rashid 1-48, Will Jacks 2-02) by 146 runs
[Cricinfo]
The price of gold has risen above $5,000 (£3,659) an ounce for the first time, extending a historic rally that saw the precious metal jump by more than 60% in 2025.
It comes as tensions between the US and NATO over Greenland have added to growing concerns about financial and geopolitical uncertainty.
US President Donald Trump’s trade policies have also worried markets. On Saturday he threatened to impose a 100% tariff on Canada if it strikes a trade deal with China.
Gold and other precious metals are seen as a so-called safe-haven assets that investors buy in times of uncertainty.
Demand for gold has also been driven by a range of other factors including higher-than-usual inflation, the weak US dollar, buying by central banks around the world and as the US Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates again this year.
Wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as Washington seizing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, have also helped push up the price of gold.
On Friday, silver topped $100 an ounce for the first time, building on its almost 150% rise last year.
[BBC]
West Indies wristspinners, Micah McKenzie and Vitel Lawes, combined to take six wickets on a surface that had plenty of turn and bite to close out a rain shortned contest against Ireland. Opting to bat first, the West Indies innings had earlier been held together by keeper-batter Jewel Andrew at No. 3 – his 66 off 82 consisted of four fours and four sixes, the majority of which came in the company of Jonathan van Lange,, during their fourth-wicket partnership of 67.
Jewel departed just six overs after van Lange, in the 33rd, and the rest of the batters struggled. No one besides him managed to cross the 30-run mark. Reuben Wilson scalped up van Lange, before returning to take out two lower-order batters to finish with figures of 3 for 50, closing out the innings with West Indies bowled out for 226.
His effort, complemented by James West’s economical 2 for 24 off seven overs, gave Ireland a realistic chance at chasing down the total. West also opened the batting for Ireland and top-scored for them, hitting a 55-ball 45 that was littered with eight boundaries. By the time he was Lawes’ first victim of the innings, in the 18th over, Ireland sat at a comfortable 82 for 2.
However, the going just got worse from there: Ireland lost four wickets to McKenzie, who spun his way through the middle order. Lawes held back his best over for his final one of the match, fizzing out Oliver Riley with its first ball, and then turning the ball prodigiously against Wilson and Bruce Whaley.
Ireland were on 164 for 7 by the time they played out Lawes’ over, needing an unlikely 62 off the final ten overs. The rain had the final say when it interrupted the match and delivered the final blow to Ireland’s hopes. The DLS par score had shot way past Ireland’s total, and when no further play was possible, West Indies walked away with a convincing spin display and a 25-run win to boost their chances in the Super Sixes.
Brief scores:
West Indies Under 19s 226 in 46.5 overs (Jewel Andrew 66; Reuben Wilson 3-50, Luke Murray 2-37, James West 2-24) beat Ireland Under 19s 164 for 7 in 40 overs (James West 45; Mica McKenzie 4-36, Vitel Lawes 2-41)by 25 runs (DLS method)
[Cricinfo]
It took Australia U19s 32.5 overs, going at just around 3.5 runs an over for the majority of a belaboured chase against an excellent South Africa U-19 bowling effort. But they had that liberty after Charles Lachmond’s 3 for 29, and two wickets each from Will Byrom and Aryan Sharma, had bowled South Africa out for 118 all but ensuring the result of the match was in little doubt even at the halfway stage.
South Africa had been reduced to 37 for 4 inside the powerplay, failing to find answers against the raw pace and movement that Lachmund and Byrom found off the surface. Opener Jorich Van Schalkwyk was the sole bright spot for them, battling his way through this period and putting together a 30-run stand with Paul James, even as he was pinged on the helmet off a brutal Kasey Barton delivery.
Spinner Aryan proved to be particularly troublesome to face, as he kept spinning the ball away from the outside edge of the right-handers. He dropped two catches at point before coming into the attack, but made up for his fielding by scalping up two wickets of his own.
James kept one end steady once Schalkwyk was run out for a 26 off 55, but wickets kept falling at the other. He would eventually be the last batter out, for a 60-ball 34 .
In response, JJ Basson led a South Africa bowling attack that was incisive and economical. His spell of 3 for 41 was the highlight of a bowling effort that kept the Australia batters defensive, and also ensured that the Australia line-up lost three wickets for the first time in this tournament – in their fourth match of the tournament.
Steven Hogan never looked comfortable during his 73-ball 43, but timed short deliveries well while cutting late, and mowed down more than a third of the target by himself. He was the last Australian wicket to fall, as Basson’s third wicket. Alex Lee Young and Jayden Draper got together at the crease, and the latter smacked two fours in the 33rd over of the contest to bring it to a close.
Brief scores:
Australia 122 for 4 in 32.5 overs (Steven Hogan 43, Jayden Draper 21*, Alex Lee Young 21*; JJ Basson 3-41) beat South Africa Under 19s 118 in 32.1 overs (Paul James 34; Charles Lachmund 3-29, Will Byrom 2-16, Aryan Sharma 2-27) by six wickets
[Cricinfo]
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