South Africa v England, 2015-16

At Port Elizabeth, February 6, 2016. England won by five wickets. Toss: South Africa.

An old-fashioned game of care, manipulation and even the dreaded dull middle overs ended with a modern flourish from Buttler, whose three successive sixes off Imran Tahir sped England towards a 2-0 lead with 22 balls to spare. Things had moved gently for the most part in a relaxed atmosphere, and South Africa appeared confident when they removed Hales for 99, leaving England five down,with 61 needed from 52 on an ever-slowing pitch. Ultimately, the South Africans were left to rue poor use of the DRS, and a brilliantly judged leg-side catch by Jordan in a strong, swirling wind to remove the dangerous de Villiers.

Until then, Rashid and Ali had kept the scoring tight, and only du Plessis batted fluently. The loss of de Villiers and Duminy within four balls early in the final powerplay changed the momentum. Duminy was unluckily adjudged leg-before - Topley's delivery was heading down leg - but de Kock had already wasted South Africa's review. Rossouw was then given out caught behind on review, despite marginal evidence. Topley, having caused problems with the new ball, finished with three wickets in his second spell, and Hales and Root gave the reply a strong foundation in a second-wicket stand of 97, with Root overturning an lbw decision in the sixth over. Hales worked hard for his runs and hit only eight fours in his 99, before being caught down the leg side trying to pull his 124th delivery, which looped off his thigh and brushed the back of the bat with the stroke nearly completed. That left Buttler, who faced only 28 balls, to finish the job with the help of Ali, and celebrate his first IPL contract, secured earlier in the day.
Man of the Match:A. D. Hales