Malan Blasts England to Number One Ranking

South Africa 191/3 England 192/1 from 17.4 overs England won by 9 wickets  

Dawid Malan smashed 99 from 47 balls as England chased down 192 to win with more than two overs to spare.

He was ably supported by Jos Buttler who hit 67 from 46 balls.

Jason Roy however failed again but probably has enough in the bank to survive for the next series providing he gets some runs in the ODIs.

Buttler’s knock probably settles any arguments over the batting order as all of Buttler, Malan, Bairstow, Stokes and Morgan have looked at home in their current roles during this series.

My call to play the fringe players in this one wasn’t one that England and Morgan had in mind.

They were determined to pick their best team and win the match and with it the series and rise to number one in the world rankings in T20 cricket.

I think it was all about that number 1 ranking and the psychology of being the number one team in the world why England wanted to play their best team and win.

I think they know that they have Root to slot back in if any of the batsmen lose form or get injured or Billings after being successful in 50 over cricket and Wood can come straight in for one of the fast bowling slots and Moeen Ali if they want a spinning allrounder option.

My worry is however if Rashid was to get injured what would England do with regards to playing a front line spinner. Would they play one and if so who? Or would they go down the allrounder route?

Rashid was excellent again in this third T20. He went wicketless but only went for 20 runs from his 4 overs.

It was good to see Stokes get a couple of wickets as well and show that he is another bowler England can use in this format if they need to switch things up a bit.

Stokes, Archer and Sam Curran will now be rested for the one day series. No Stokes leaves a big hole in that format but also gives opportunities for others to come in.

I would have liked to have seen Malan selected in the one day squad as well given his T20 exploits but with the next world cup three years away and his age, they may think it is better to look elsewhere.