South African opening batsman, Jon-Jon Smuts, has credited AB de Villiers’ spurring leadership for the resilient performance in the three-run win against England in the second T20 International in Taunton on Friday. The win sets the series up for an exciting finish, with a winner-takes-all finale in Cardiff on Sunday.

The spirited show from the bowlers brought the Proteas back from possible defeat, with Chris Morris and Andile Phehlukwayo leading the charge with an impressive show of temperament and skill. The win has given the squad the belief of a ‘come from behind’ series win, which will be a welcome confidence boost ahead of the Test series starting next month.

England coasted to a nine-wicket victory with 33 balls to spare in the opening match of the three-match T20 Series against the Standard Bank Proteas at Southampton on Wednesday.

The Proteas won the toss but their total of 142/3 looked well below par and that turned out to be the case as a second-wicket partnership of 93 in 9.5 overs between Alex Hales (47 off 38 balls, 3 fours and 2 sixes) and Jonny Bairstow (60 off 35 balls, 6 fours and 2 sixes) saw England comfortably home.

Allrounder Chris Morris led a superb bowling performance to enable South Africa to secure a three-run series-levelling victory over England in the second T20 International at Taunton on Friday. The two teams now go to a series deciding match at Cardiff on Sunday.

The Proteas, losing the toss and having to bat first, looked a few runs short when they were restricted to 174/8 in their 20 overs. Their total was set up by Jon-Jon Smuts (45 off 35 balls, 4 fours and 3 sixes) and AB de Villiers (46 off 20 balls, 4 fours and 3 sixes) but they were unable to kick on when De Villiers was dismissed going into the final 5 overs.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) today named the Standard Bank Proteas squad for the three-match T20 International Series in England to be played immediately after the conclusion of the ICC Champions Trophy Tournament in June.

AB de Villiers will captain the side in the absence of regular T20 captain Faf du Plessis. “I would like to thank Farhaan Behardien for leading the side so ably in the recent series against Sri Lanka,” commented CSA National Selection Panel convener, Linda Zondi. “We are indeed fortunate in the quality of our team leaders and Farhaan remains very much part of this group.

Pakistan bounced back from a defeat in the third Twenty20 International to complete a seven-wicket win over the West Indies in the fourth game to take the series 3-1.

The series win over the World champions on Sunday lifted Pakistan from No. 6 in the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20I team rankings to No. 4, and sent the Caribbean side down to the sixth position. New Zealand tops the charts with 127 ratings points, followed by India (124) and South Africa (117), while England is between Pakistan and the West Indies at No.5.

Evin Lewis' scored a brilliant 91 as West Indies defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in the third Twenty20 International (T20I) at Queen's Park Oval. With the West Indies chasing 138, Lewis slammed nine sixes and five boundaries to take the hosts past the target in barely 14.5 overs on Saturday.

Lewis' assault on the bowling was in stark contrast to the struggles of most of the Pakistani batsmen, with the exception of Kamran Akmal and Babar Azam, as Pakistan collapsed from a solid 92 for 2 in 12 overs to a meagre 137 - adding only 45 runs in the last eight overs and losing six more wickets.