South Africa win opening Twenty20 match

Jacques Kallis and JP Duminy piled on the agony as South Africa thrashed England by seven wickets in their first Twenty20 international at the Riverside on Saturday.

Kallis was unbeaten on 48 and Duminy finished on 47 not out as South Africa closed on 119-3, easily overhauling England’s 118-7 with six balls to spare after Jade Dernbach, who finished with 2-31, had given the hosts hope.

Earlier Johan Botha took 2-19 and claimed two catches, while Robin Peterson took 2-27 as England collapsed from 40-1 at the end of the powerplay.

Craig Kieswetter hit 25 but the rest of the top order failed and England’s next highest scorers were captain Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann, both of whom finished unbeaten on 18.

With the three-match series continuing at Old Trafford on Monday, South Africa captain AB de Villiers was delighted with the performance.

“I’m very proud of the way the boys played today, it was a good start for us,” De Villiers said.

“Dale Steyn had a wonderful spell there. I used him right throughout the 20 overs. Every time he came on he bowled with a lot of pace, he looked like taking wickets.

“The bowling unit kept taking wickets and never allowed England to get a lot of momentum, which is key in T20 cricket.”

Broad admitted England hadn’t posted a competitive target.

“We were probably 20 or 30 short,” Broad said.

“We didn’t adapt to the conditions very well and I thought we batted pretty averagely.

“It was a little bit sticky with the spin. We played the first six overs quite nicely, we just struggled in the middle period. It’s something we’re aware of and something we need to improve.”