England captain Eoin Morgan went on a six-hitting spree
to take his side to a series win in a high-scoring third and final T20I against
South Africa in Centurion on Sunday.

Morgan slammed seven sixes in an innings of 57 not out off
22 balls as England chased down South Africa’s 222-6 with five wickets and five
balls to spare.

“It’s a nice note to leave this tour on,” said
Morgan.

But Morgan had sympathy for the bowlers on a day when a
capacity crowd were peppered with 28 sixes as the batsmen took advantage of a
true pitch and the thin air of the South African highveld.

“It was a helluva game,” said Morgan. “You
have to commend both sides’ bowlers. It’s not the easiest ground to bowl on,
especially with a wicket like this.”

Heinrich Klaasen, playing in his first match of the South
African home international season, hit 66 off 33 balls for the hosts after Temba
Bavuma (49) and captain Quinton de Kock (35) hammered 84 for the first wicket
off 46 balls.

“When any side posts 220 it’s a tough ask but going
back to the 2016 World Cup with this group of players we chased down 230
against South Africa in Mumbai. So we always had this belief,” added
Morgan.

Jason Roy was out early but Jos Buttler (57) and Jonny
Bairstow (64) put on 91 off 50 balls for the second wicket to put England in a
strong position.

But 78 runs were still needed off 38 balls when Dawid Malan
was fourth out with the total on 145. 

Ben Stokes joined Morgan and the pair added 61 off 27 balls
before Stokes was caught on the boundary with 17 still needed off 11
balls. 

Morgan hit two sixes off successive balls from Lungi Ngidi
in the same over and the contest was effectively ended.

Morgan was named man of the match and man of the series
after pipping opposite number De Kock as the leading run-scorer in the series.

“We knew it would be a high-scoring game but we’re a
bit disappointed not to get over the line,” said De Kock. “We
had mixed emotions (after the first innings), the guys were confident but we
knew it was a great wicket.”

South Africa won the first game by one run before England
levelled the series with a two-run victory.

It was the last match for England after a tour in which they won a four-match Test series and shared a one-day series.

South Africa will be back in action on Friday when they play Australia in Johannesburg in the first of three T20Is, which will be followed by three ODIs.