Buttler: De Kock pitches ' the change' in small South Africa win

England commander pinpoints powerplay abuse as essential factor in nearby contest

England captain Jos Buttler described Quinton de Kock's pitches of 65 from 38 balloons as "probably the change" between the sides after South Africa closed out a seven-run succeed in St Lucia to expand their winning work at the T20 World Cup 2024 to six games.

South Africa finished the powerplay with a score of 63 without a hit thanks to De Kock's four innings in the 22-ball half-century. With the floor somewhat slower than during the four preceding evening games at the Daren Sammy Stadium, South Africa was only blog 163 for 6 at the end of 20 overs but they had enough in the bank to keep England at arm's length.

" I'd state in the powerplay, truly," Buttler said, when asked at the post-match assessment where England had lost the game. " Quinton de Kock came out with a lot of intensity in that powerplay, and we could n't quite match that. I think we were perhaps 20 behind them after six innings. The batsman slowed off and we brought it back truly well, we were very happy hunting 160 [164]. But yeah, they bowled well in the powerplay and Quinton de Kock's pitches was perhaps the difference. "

England, by comparison, lost Phil Salt on the way to 41 for 1 from the first six innings of their fight, with Jonny Bairstow falling immediately after. England were 61 for 4 with 103 also required from 9 when Buttler was dismissed for 17 off 20 and Moeen Ali hacked out two innings afterward, both of which Keshav Maharaj had dismissed. 4 wickets.

A walk of 78 in 42 balloons between Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone edged them up into argument, the couple taking 21 off Ottneil Baartman's 17th over to take the formula down to 25 needed from the last three. But Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Anrich Nortje held their brain to close out success.

" I think it's also a great batsman," Buttler said. " A little bit slower than we perhaps expected, but as I said, we were very happy throwing 160. After seeing Quinny's skill on the powerplay, we returned really well with the game. At one point [we were ] looking like favorites in T20 cricket, but I thought Brook and Livingstone had a great relationship it, and South Africa deserves praise for bringing it all to an end.

" I thought the ball was definitely good," he said. The powerplay, as I previously stated, was the ideal time to play, and Quinny, in my opinion, took some calculated risks as a result. But yeah, the ball performance, to come back and restrict a truly effective line-up to what I thought was a par report was a fantastic endeavor. "

Beat means England will have to conquer USA in their last Group 2 game to keep hopes of reaching the semi-finals and defending their trophy, with the potential for online run rate to once be the decider.

The equation for South Africa is more straightforward, with victory over West Indies on Sunday guaranteeing them a semi-final spot. Aiden Markram's side have now won six games in a row, a run which has seen them prevail in several close finishes, and the captain praised their "fighting spirit" after holding off England's charge at the end.

" Yeah, we've had a few of those so far this comp," Markram said. The odds are likely to be very much against you, but today's, especially when it comes to those final three overs, shows a lot of skill. The bowlers must hang in there, have really good plans, and ultimately get the execution right, they say. But I think it comes from deeper and that fighting spirit, like you mentioned, helped us a lot. "

On his bowlers ' approach between overs 15 and 17, during which Brook and Livingstone defied the conditions to add 52, Markram was philosophical.

" It's always a tricky one, you want to see the bowlers ' best skills. You want to give him the freedom to bowl his best ball first before changing to conditions. It was a bit nerve-wracking there in those overs. The plans were okay but the execution let us down, but that's okay, that's part of the game. You must give Liam and Brooky credit, because they put us under pressure in the final few overs and gave us a nice response. "

Markram also pinpointed the start de Kock gave his side, given the way conditions changed, adding that he felt South Africa were "getting closer to the really complete game" with their latest performance.

" I thought Quinny and Reeza [ Hendricks ] took on the powerplay beautifully for us but then it definitely got slower," he said. " I probably wanted another 10-20 runs, being greedy, especially on the back of that really good start. We needed to try and squeeze in the middle, try and save as many runs as we could in the field and build pressure that way. Overall, we are likely approaching the end of the cricketing king. Not quite there just yet, but we are definitely on the right track. "