Morgan hails Bairstow attitude after England thump South Africa in first T20

21 June 2017 10:24

Jonny Bairstow's dedication to proving himself in all three formats has been hailed by England captain Eoin Morgan.

Bairstow is often on the fringes of the limited-overs set-up but took advantage of the rested Joe Root's absence to post a sublime 60 not out from 35 balls in the first of three Twenty20 internationals against South Africa.

The Yorkshireman also shared an unbroken 98-run stand with Alex Hales (47no) as England surpassed the Proteas' paltry 142 for three with nine wickets and 33 balls to spare at the Ageas Bowl.

And Bairstow's attitude has found favour with Morgan, who told Sky Sports 2: "He's so hungry to do well and creating that mentality within the group has been very difficult because chances for him have been few and far between, but he's never let us down.

"When he's sitting behind somebody like Joe Root, who's not an easy player to kick out the side, he seems to bang on the door every time.

"I'm delighted for him, he's done really well here tonight and hopefully he'll continue."

Bairstow seemed to be struggling with a knock before bringing up his fifty from only 29 deliveries but he revealed he was merely suffering from a "stitch".

He added: "I'm pretty pleased, I'm trying to progress all the time and there's a few shots in there that I probably didn't have about 18 months ago so with that comes confidence and I'm feeling good."

England's victory was underpinned by a fantastic bowling display that restricted the tourists to a below-par total.

AB de Villiers, one of the most feared batsmen in the world, and Farhaan Behardien both registered unbeaten half-centuries but neither was able to get away following a collective effort from England's seamers and spinners.

Spin twins Liam Dawson and international debutant Mason Crane, in particular, put in encouraging displays on their home ground.

Morgan added: "I'm very impressed with the way our spinners went about their business.

"The first couple of overs that they bowled, I thought they contained Behardien and AB really well, but they never let them get away from us which is a huge credit.

"Two inexperienced guys playing in their home ground managed to tie down one of the best players of our generation and a very good international cricketer.

"Full credit to the spinners and I thought our seamers backed it up really well at the end."

De Villiers (65no from 58 balls) and Behardien (64no from 52 deliveries) shared an unbroken 110-run stand and steadied the ship after South Africa had slipped to 32 for three in the fifth over.

But both men were largely shackled by a resolute England, and captain De Villiers admitted their total was insubstantial.

"It is difficult to sum up the performance. The result doesn't look good for us," he said.

"We lost our way in the first six, had to rebuild and that cost us a bit.

"From the 13th over I tried to have a go. We were looking for those 10 runs an over and didn't get a lot of them, unfortunately. We got a couple there towards the end but not enough.

"It's not done and dusted, we go to Taunton and like all South Africans we always fight our way back so I'm expecting a really good performance in the next one."

Source: PA