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Arthur: We came off better

Centurion - Proteas coach Mickey Arthur believes that South Africa came off better after the first two matches in the England tour of South Africa, although the Standard Bank Pro20 series was shared one-all.

England won the opening match by one run, according to the Duckworth-Lewis method, at the Wanderers on Friday and South Africa bounced back with an emphatic 84 run victory at Supersport Park on Sunday.

"We were very frustrated on Friday, because we backed ourselves to get across the line," Arthur said after Sunday's match. "The last ball of the final over (before the rain came down) was the first time that we fell behind the Duckworth-Lewis target. It was very disappointing, and we were very keen to make amends today( Sunday)."

Arthur said the emphatic nature of South Africa's victory, where they made 242 for six - the second highest score in international Twenty20 cricket - and then restricted England to 157 for eight - meant that South Africa had the better of the weekend.

"If that counts for anything down the line, and I'm not sure it does," he added.

He revealed that Proteas captain Graeme Smith had suffered from severe stomach cramps throughout the day, even while he and Loots Bosman were compiling their record first wicket partnership of 170 off 82 balls, which surpassed the partnership of 145 set up by Chris Gayle and Devon Smith against South Africa in the opening match of the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup.

Smith and Bosman hit 13 fours and 15 sixes between them as they put the England bowlers to the sword.

Attention now turns to the five-match one-day international (ODI) series, and Bosman, who was named Man of the Match for his superb innings of 94, will return to his franchise, the Dolphins, to play Supersport Series cricket next weekend.

However, Arthur said he would not be entirely out of the picture.

"It's really very good and very exciting to have players knocking on the door," he said.

"We have our squad for the first three matches, and we certainly are unlikely to make changes for the first match, but Loots has put his hand up, and it has been noticed."

The first MTN ODI will be played at the Wanderers on Friday, starting at 14:30, and the second at Supersport Park on Sunday, starting at 10:00. The tour then moves to the coast, with matches being played in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban. The series ends with four Test matches.

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