England Topple Australia To Take The Number One T20I Ranking

After whitewashing South Africa in the three-match T20I series, England surged to the top spot of the T20I rankings, dethroning Australia. England, who started the series at number two climbed to the number one position after beating Australia in the first two out of three T20Is in September. However, their arch-rivals beat them in the third to snatch it back.

England remained dominant in all three T20Is as South Africa remained clueless in the face of their powerful batting line-up. The visitors chased 180 in the first T20 international in Cape Town despite losing Dawid Malan and Jason Roy early as Jonny Bairstow finished unbeaten on 86 to clinch victory by six wickets.

In the second T20 international, English bowlers restricted South Africa to 146 in 20 overs, backed by Adil Rashid’s spell of 4-0-23-2. Dawid Malan, who could not make an impact in the opening match, was in the scheme of things in Paarl. The southpaw top-scored with 55, marshalling a tricky chase as skipper Eoin Morgan saw them home by four wickets.

The third T20I turned out to be a high-scoring affair as the Proteas dished out 191 in their allocated overs. Quinton De Kock and Temba Bavuma gave the hosts a fast start as Faf Du Plessis and Rassie Van Der Dussen hammered half-centuries, putting on an unbeaten 127 between them to give the Englishmen a steep chase. However, South Africa had no answers for Malan and Jos Buttler. Even though Anrich Nortje claimed the early wicket of Jason Roy, Malan and Buttler finished the chase with two overs and nine wickets to spare.

England and Australia have equal points:

England, who recorded a resounding series victory earned 275 points to match with Australia, who also have the same. Nevertheless, Australia could topple the Englishmen again if they beat India in the upcoming T20I series. Meanwhile, South Africa and England will move on to face each other in the three-game ODI rubber, starting from 4th December.

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