England v South Africa, 2012

At Birmingham, September 12 (floodlit). England won by 28 runs. Toss: South Africa. Twenty20 international debut: D. R. Briggs.

On the eve of England's departure for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, Buttler finally came good on the international stage, producing a magnificent exhibition of clean hitting that made Kieswetter's 32-ball 50 appear almost pedestrian. As England looked to accelerate in a match reduced to 11 overs a side, Buttler - whose six previous Twenty20 international innings had yielded a best of 13 - smashed 32 off ten deliveries, including 30 in an eight-ball over from Parnell that cost 32 in all. Only Broad, Buttler's captain, had conceded more runs in a Twenty20 international over - the 36 struck by Yuvraj Singh in the 2007 World Twenty20. Faced with a now-mountainous 118, South Africa never got close, even though the peerless Amla top-scored for his seventh international innings in a row. Earlier, Morne Morkel began with an over costing 16, including a leg-side wide to Kieswetter that outdid even Steve Harmison's Ashes opener at Brisbane in 2006-07 forwaywardness. The win meant England began their World Twenty20 defence on top of the ICC's rankings.

Man of the Match: J. C. Buttler Attendance: 18,952.
Man of the Series: C. Kieswetter.