Proteas hammer England in rain farce

Quickfire 20s from Aiden Markram, Dewald and Donovan Ferreira helped South Africa to a chaotic, slightly farcical  14-run (DLS) victory in the first of three T20 Internationals against England at Cardiff on Wednesday night.

The start of play was delayed by almost two hours because of rain and South Africa’s innings, reduced initially to nine overs, ended on 97-5 from 7.5 overs when rain again intervened before England were restricted to 54-5 in five overs chasing a revised target of 69 to win.

South Africa take an early lead in the T20I series after a rain-filled match 🌧️🇿🇦#ENGvSA | #SSCricket pic.twitter.com/tPfTAkoumv

— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) September 10, 2025

Former England captain Jos Buttler smashed 25 from 11 balls but the rest of the batting order disintegrated with Marco Jansen (2-18) and Corbin Bosch (2-20) claiming a brace apiece in their two overs of incisive, smart death bowling.

Markram hammered two straight sixes in his 28 from 14 balls and Brevis added three more in his 23 from 10 balls before both were caught in the deep attempting further big hits.

Ferreira was in even greater six-hitting form with three maximums from the 11 balls he faced to finish unbeaten on 25 when further rain forced the players from the field after 7.5 off the scheduled nine overs.

In a contest bound to favour the batsmen, England left-arm seamer Luke Wood (2-0-22-2) did well to limit the damage while legspinner Adil Rashid, who conceded just four runs in his first over, finished with 1-24 after his second.

Tristan Stubbs struck a six and a four in his 13 from six balls to give South Africa an important late boost but, as satisfying as victory always is, this one was a little too farcical to rank among any favourites.

The second match of the series is scheduled to take place at Old Trafford in Manchester on Friday with the final contest at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Sunday.

ENGLAND: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wkt), Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (captain), Sam Curran, Tom Banton, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.

SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram (capt), Ryan Rickleton (wk), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kwena Maphaka, Kagiso Rabada, Lizaad Williams