Joe Root’s whirlwind 83 set up England’s record chase of 230/8 against South Africa in a Group 1 WT20 match at the Wankhede stadium, Mumbai.

After hitting 6 boundaries and 4 sixes in his 44-ball knock, root was out in the penultimate over, but England romped home with two balls to spare.

In just 15 balls, openers Jason Roy (16-ball 43) and Alex Hales (17) scored 48, making it a good start. Earlier, South Africa had earlier made an impressive 229-4.

South Africa: H. Amla lbw b Ali 58, Q. de Kock c Hales b Ali 52, A.B. de Villiers c Morgan b Rashid 16, F. du Plessis c Roy b Willey 17, J.P. Duminy (not out) 54, D. Miller (not out) 28. Extras: (b-2, wd-2) 4. Total: (for 4 wkts, in 20 overs) 229.

Fall of wickets: 1-96, 2-114, 3-133, 4-169.

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Bowling: Willey 4-0-40-1 (1w), Topley 2-0-33-0, Ali 4-0-34-2, Jordan 3-0-49-0, Stokes 2-0-23-0 (1w), Rashid 4-0-35-1, Root 1-0-13-0

England: J. Roy c de Kock b Abbott 43, A. Hales lbw b Abbott 17, B. Stokes c Morris b Rabada 15, J. Root c Miller b Rabada 83, E. Morgan b Duminy 12, J.
Buttler st de Kock b Imran Tahir 21, M. Ali not out 12, C. Jordan c Duminy b Abbott 5, D. Willey run out 0, A. Rashid not out 0. Extras (lb-2, w-20) 22. Total (for 8 wkts in 19.4 overs) 230.

Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-71, 3-87, 4-111, 5-186, 6-219, 7-229, 8-229.

Bowling: K. Rabada 40-5-0-2, D.  Steyn 2-0-35-0, K. Abbott 3.4-0-41-3, Imran Tahir 4-0-28-1, J.P. Duminy 3-0-31-1, C. Morris 3-0-43-0.

By Phani Ch