"Not meant to be but Harry Brook what a talent man!" - Twitter reacts to the youngster's fighting knock in ENG vs SA 2024 T20 World Cup clash
England batter Harry Brook played a valiant knock of 53 runs off 37 deliveries to take his side incredibly close against South Africa. It came in the 2024 T20 World Cup Super 8 stage contest in St. Lucia on Friday, June 21. He was dismissed in the final over as England lost by seven runs in the end.
Brook came into bat when the team were in deep trouble while trying to chase down the 164-run target. England were placed at 54-3 in the ninth over, with skipper Jos Buttler dismissed by Keshav Maharaj. The side fell into deeper trouble as Moeen Ali departed in the 11th over, leaving the Proteas struggling at 61-4.
Brook joined forces with Livingstone to bring England back into the contest. The former struggled at the beginning, leading to a sluggish start, but switched gears when the asking rate began to climb up steadily. He took on Kagiso Rabada in the 15th over and then piled misery on Anrich Nortje and Ottneil Baartman as well to put England in the driver's seat.
However, a tight penultimate over by Marco Jansen meant that all the pressure was on Brook as England were 15 runs away from the target. The youngster perished off the very first ball by Anrich Nortje. The task proved to be too steep for Sam Curran and Jofra Archer to finish off.
Although Brook failed to close off the innings, his efforts to bring England to the score were applauded by fans. Here are some of the reactions on social media:
"Why doesn’t Brook bat higher up the order man," one tweet read
"Fantastic knock regardless! Shame couldn't get us home," one fan remarked
"Gotta appreciate this young talent," another tweet read
"Brook and Livingstone had a fantastic partnership to get us close" - England skipper Jos Buttler
After amassing 21 runs off Ottneil Baartman's 17th over, England looked firm favorites to win the tie. They had three overs to spare and the duo of Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone was in ominous touch. However, tight bowling in the death overs from SA meant that England fell short, and their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals got a little complicated.
"Quinton came in with a lot of intent and we couldn't quite match that. We pulled it back and were happy to chase that target but his innings was the difference. We came back well with the ball. Brook and Livingstone had a fantastic partnership to get us close and even look like favourites but credit to South Africa for closing out the game," Buttler said during the post-match presentation
England are next scheduled to face the United States of America in the final match of the Super 8 stage on Sunday, June 23 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.