Jonny Bairstow proves worth to England yet again with career-best T20 innings

But you cannot keep a good man down, as Jonny Bairstow proved for the umpteenth time in Cape Town last night.

The Yorkshireman, batting at No 4 so that England could go with an opening partnership of Jos Buttler and Jason Roy, outshone both of them and everyone else for that matter with a 
magnificent, match-winning innings in the shadow of Table Mountain.

A T20 international career-best score of 86 not out from 48 balls, with nine fours and four sixes, led England to victory with four balls to spare after South Africa had made 179-6 after being sent into bat on a slow pitch.

Having lost his usual spot as opener, and having lost his Test place in recent times, it was yet another example of Bairstow excelling when he had a point to prove.

That he will do so now has become something of a cliche; that he keeps having to do so does not reflect well on the way that England have handled him.

But a man who has batted in pretty much every position in their various teams, and who has been entrusted with the wicket-keeping gloves one day but not the next, keeps finding an answer to these myriad challenges.

So much so, if England asked him to fly their plane back to London next month at the end of the tour, he could probably do it with a cigar in one hand and the control wheel in the other, while simultaneously reading a copy of The Yorkshire Post balanced on his knee.

No one is pretending, of course, that it is easy for England to juggle their resources in T20 cricket, so plentiful are they at the present moment.

Prior to this three-match series, which continues in Paarl on Sunday and concludes back in Cape Town on Tuesday, captain Eoin Morgan conceded that he does not know what his best team is one year out from the next T20 World Cup.

One thing he must know, however, or should know by now, is that Bairstow has to be in it, for there are few finer batsmen in the world in this kind of form.

It was not just his runs, or his strike-rate that impressed, it was the versatility he displayed in the process, combining trademark power with silky finesse as he clubbed and manoeuvred the ball to all parts of the ground.

At the venue where he scored his maiden Test hundred in 2016, and memorably threw back his head to the heavens in memory of his late father, Bairstow helped England to recover from 34-3, pacing his innings with maturity and precision.

Fittingly, he sealed the win with a six over wide long-on off pace man Lungi Ngidi, holding the pose as the ball disappeared far into the night.

In something close to disarray behind the scenes, following alleged financial mismanagement at boardroom level, South Africa gave England a perhaps unexpectedly good test considering that fact and also that they had not played international cricket since March. Faf du Plessis made a fine 58 from 40 balls with four fours and two sixes, and useful contributions from Rassie van der Dussen (37 from 28) and Quinton de Kock (30 off 23) took them to a competitive total.

Sam Curran was England’s best bowler with 3-28, utilising his variations well, although it was a difficult night for his brother, Tom, whose 1-55 from four overs was his most expensive analysis in T20 internationals.

With England picking the Currans and leaving out Mark Wood and Moeen Ali, it is fair to say the experiment only half worked.

A mention, too, for Adil Rashid, who marked his 50th T20 international with typically tidy figures of 0-27 from four overs.

The Yorkshireman’s figures would have been better still had van der Dussen not taken him for the only boundary he conceded all night, launching him high over mid-wicket in his last over.

South Africa’s decision to give left-arm spinner George Linde his T20 international debut looked a masterstroke when he had Roy caught behind cutting off the second ball of England’s reply, later adding the scalp of Yorkshire’s Dawid Malan, who swept to square-leg.

England were creaking at that stage but Bairstow and Stokes added 85 inside nine overs, evoking memories of their world record sixth-wicket partnership of 399 in the 2016 Cape Town Test, but the match was back in the balance when Stokes pulled a long-hop to long-on following an excellent 37 from 27 balls that included three sixes.

Bairstow, however, held his nerve to lead England home.

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