England captain Eoin Morgan acknowledged his bowlers' effort as they helped the side come out triumphant from the second T20I versus South Africa in Durban with a series-levelling two-run victory in a high-scoring thriller.
Chris Jordan, Mark Wood and Tom Curran showed a lot of resolve under pressure against Quinton de Kock & co as three lions turned the tables on Proteas and defended their massive total on a flat wicket by a thin margin.
Morgan was pleased with this win after going down by a whisker in the last game.
"We would have liked to win both but we came out on the winning side today," the skipper said at the post-match presentation ceremony on Friday (February 14). "The level of intensity was a considerable improvement in today's game compared to East London. South Africa had the better of the batting conditions, the ball was skidding on, and our bowlers came up trumps."
Jordan, in particular, was fantastic in the heat of the battle before Curran kept his nerves in the last over to successfully defend the 15 runs that were required. "Jordan is one of our more experienced bowlers," Morgan said. "He's very calm and delivers when it matters, so he's one you really want in your side. It's a tough ground to bowl on and the wicket's really good."
"About Tom Curran, it takes courage to bowl a gamble ball like the one out of the back of the hand (off the last ball to dismiss Bjorn Fortuin)."
Moeen Ali's blistering knock in the first half propelled England past the 200-run mark, which made a huge difference in the end.
"Quinny (De Kock, in the second half) played extremely well, and the bowling performance was extremely good. Moeen was the standout with the bat, it was a match-winning innings looking at the way SA played and the way things turned out in the end," Morgan concluded.
(Inputs from PA)
