ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the first T20 between South Africa and England
Firdose Moonda at Newlands19-Feb-2016Mistaken identity of the day Did Chris Woakes sneak into the England XI? And manage to get promoted to open the batting? You’d have been forgiven for thinking that when the match started but you’d be wrong. Alex Hales and Jason Roy were in position but Hales was in Woakes’ shirt – with his team-mates’ name taped over as ICC regulations say – because he had forgotten to deliver his to the washing pile in time after the warm-up match in Paarl. Luckily for Hales, South Africa’s quick-drainage extends to the laundry too and he was back in his own kit by the fourth over.First act of the day After JP Duminy was left out of the Newlands Test and ODI, he may have wanted to impress his home crowd but the first thing he did would have achieved exactly the opposite. Jason Roy flicked the opening delivery of the match, a full Kyle Abbott ball on leg stump, to midwicket, where Duminy let the ball through his hands. It only cost South Africa a single but it was not the first thing Duminy would have wanted his home crowd to see.Worse act of the day Duminy’s evening only got worse, when at the end of the fifth over he had a chance to make amends and more. Hales went for a pull, Duminy was just about perfectly positioned on the midwicket boundary; he had to move forward a touch but did and had the ball in his hands before letting it go. His mistake took place in front of the same area the misfield, the famous oakes, and it’s not unrealistic to imagine the (bl)okes sitting there had a few things to say.Catch of the day It was third time lucky for Duminy when the ball found him again when Hales top-edged a sweep off Imran Tahir’s first over. The ball went high on the leg side towards fine leg. Duminy gave chase from a deep position and so did Kagiso Rabada who ran from short fine leg. Duminy was first to get to the ball and steadied himself to the take the catch, which he did at the same time as Rabada collided with him. Both players hit the ground, Duminy on his back, Rabada on his shoulder and the ball in Duminy’s hand with everyone, thankfully, in one piece.Almost hat-trick of the day Imran Tahir bored his way into the England line-up with a wicket in each of his first two overs and two in two balls in his third. He was on the cusp of creating a new milestone for himself. He could have taken with his first T20I five-for with a hat-trick and could not have bowled a better ball in his attempt. He greeted Chris Jordan with a googly that beat the inside edge and somehow missed the top of the stumps. Tahir had to settle for what could have been and equalling his career-best of 4 for 21.Drop of the day With just 134 to defend, England needed to take every chance that came their way and Jos Buttler let them down early on. Hashim Amla tried to slice a back of a length ball from Reece Topley to third man but got a thick edge. Buttler had to leap to his right and got all the motions right, except the final one. He could only get fingertips to the ball and helped it on its way to the boundary.Eagle eyes of the day Umpire Johan Cloete has made a few blunders in the one-day series, many of which the DRS system rectified, but he made no mistakes when Faf du Plessis did not run his bat in when trying to take two off Jordan. Du Plessis had survived an lbw shout and took off but in his haste did not ground his bat. Not only did Cloete spot that but he was not interested in the appeal either. Ultra Edge showed du Plessis had got some bat on it and Cloete redeemed himself with two good sightings in one. He later also denied Jordan’s lbw appeal against Duminy, which pitched just outside leg, and a wide that du Plessis hoped to get off Rashid that Cloete believed was just fine.
