Captain Eoin Morgan has hit an unbeaten 57 off just 22 balls to lead England to a Twenty20 series victory over South Africa and a highly satisfying end to their three-month tour.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
England chased down a challenging target of 223 in the third and final T20 at SuperSport Park on Sunday to take the series 2-1.
Morgan clubbed seven sixes as England finished on 5-226 with five balls to spare for a five-wicket win.
"Extremely satisfying, particularly when I'm there at the end," Morgan said.
"Nice note to end this tour on ... it's a hugely productive series for us."
South Africa made 6-222 after choosing to bat first with surprise selection Heinrich Klaasen top-scoring with 66 from 33 at his home ground and Temba Bavuma making 49 from 24.
England's key partnership was Morgan's stand with Ben Stokes, which reaped 61 runs from 27 balls.
The visitors needed 53 from the last four overs but Morgan hit two sixes in the 17th over, Stokes did the same in the next over, and Morgan did it again in the 19th.
Stokes, who scored 22 from 12, was caught on the boundary at the start of the penultimate over and England still had work to do.
Morgan eased the tension by connecting with two low full tosses from Lungi Ngidi off successive balls. The first disappeared into the crowd over mid-wicket and the second went flying over the square leg boundary.
England ultimately only needed one run off the last six balls with Moeen Ali sending a four down the ground for the victory.
England's 5-226 was their second-highest total batting second in T20s and the fifth-highest ever for a team batting second.
Morgan's 50 came off 21 balls, equalling his own record set last year in New Zealand for the fastest T20 half-century by an England player.
There were two other half-centuries at the top of the order with Jos Buttler hitting 57 from 29 and Jonny Bairstow bagging 64 from 34.
The victory gave England a winning end to the tour in Centurion, where it started with the first Test in December.
England came from behind in every one of the three series, fighting back to win the Test series 3-1, to draw the ODI series 1-1, and to win the T20 series 2-1.
The success will be especially welcome for England with the T20 World Cup in Australia in October and November. England lost to the final of the last T20 World Cup to the West Indies in 2016.
Australian Associated Press
