WT20: Proteas left stunned as England pull off record run chase

England pulled off an astonishing230run record chase with Joe Root 83 leading an incrediblebatting performance that powered them to a twowicket victoryagainst South Africa in the ICC World Twenty20 at Mumbai on FridayRequired to score at almost 12 runs an over Englandturned the chase on its head with Jason Roy and Alex Hales17 putting on a blistering 48run partnership for theopening wicket in just 23 oversTest specialist Root the no 2 ranked player in theworld in the longest form of the game threw caution to thewind during his whirlwind 44ball knock studded with foursixes and six fours as England succeeded in pulling off thesecondbest runchase in T20 Internationals and best in WorldT20 history by making 230 for 8 in 194 overs thus keepingtheir hopes alive in the megaeventJoe Root during his match winning innings of 83 against South Africa at Wankhede stadium on Friday evening PicAFPThe highestever second innings T20 total was put up bythe West Indies 236 also against South Africa in January2015 when they chased down the home teams 231 for 7 atJohannesburgRoot came to the crease after openers Roy blitzed his wayto 43 in just 16 balls with the help of three sixes and fivefours to give England a superb blastoff in the Super 10 Group1 game at the Wankhede StadiumComing to the crease after England had rocketed off to 71for 2 in 43 overs Root attacked the bowling with gusto andset up the victory before departing caught in the deep when11 were needed off the last 10 ballsAmidst mounting tension England crossed the finish lineafter losing two more wickets with the ninth wicket pair ofMoeen Ali and Adil Rashid at the crease the winning runcoming off the formers batEngland who lost to the West Indies in their tournamentopener here two days ago next play against Afghanistan atDelhi on March 24Earlier South Africa rode on belligerent half centuriesfrom Quinton de Kock Hashim Amla and JeanPaul Duminy to posta recordhigh total of 229 for 4A nearcentury opening partnership between righthandedAmla 58 in 31 balls and lefthanded de Kock 52 in 24 ballsset the stage nicely for left handers Duminy 54 not out in 24balls and David Miller 24 not out in 11 balls to finish theinnings with a flourish with an unconquered stand of 60 in 27ballsWicketkeeperbatsman de Kock set the stage alight with anallout attack in the power play before departing for 52inclusive of 3 sixes and 7 foursAmla playing second fiddle initially later opened up tosmack 58 in 31 balls with an identical number of fours andsixes as the opening duo gave the Proteas a flying start of 96in 71 oversLater JeanPaul Duminy struck 3 sixes and as many foursto make sure the early blast did not go to waste and the teamended with their highest and third 200plus score in thetournaments historyAll of Englands fast bowlers were wayward while spinnersMoeen Ali 2 for 34 and Adil Rashid 1 for 35 were alsoexpensive Though the likes of Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabadaproved to be more expensive in the second halfEngland started the runchase in whirlwind fashion withopeners Roy and Hales raising 44 in two overs before thelatter departed in the third for 17 trapped leg before byKyle Abbott 341Hales had struck SAs premier pacer Steyn for four hitsto the fence but got out in the next over with England on 48It was Abbott who put the skids again on England bygetting rid of Roy who had started the fireworks by hittingfour fours in Rabadas opening over The opener was caughtbehind as he tried to repeat a scoop over his shoulder thatwent for a six the previous ballEngland lost another wicket that of Ben Stokes for anineball 15 before the power play ended with them being 89for 3 in comparison to South Africas 83 without loss a goodretort but only after losing three important wicketsImran Tahir and Duminy then bowled in tandem to shacklethe opposition the latter also getting rid of rival captainEoin Morgan cheaplyIt was up to Root to keep Englands hopes high in thecompany of Jos Buttler and the duo feasted on some poorlydirected bowling to add 75 quick runs for the fifth wicket inonly 35 ballsRoot pulled Duminy and slashed Chris Morris for sixeswhile Buttler smote the off spinner for another sixBut he got out caught in the deep midwicket region justinside the line off RabadaEngland later just about managed to squeeze home Tahirwas the best bowler on view with fine figures of 2 for 28 in abatsmendominated highscoring game