Joe Denly will be given another opportunity to further his Twenty20 career on Friday, forcing Dawid Malan to watch from the sidelines again when England play South Africa in Durban with the series on the line. Denly averages 10.55 from 11 Twenty20 international matches and was out for three off four balls as England’s run chase collapsed in the opening match in East London, where they lost by one run on Wednesday night. Malan was carrying the drinks, kept out of the side by Denly despite vastly superior numbers. Malan scored only the second ever Twenty20 hundred by an England batsman in his last appearance in November and averages 57.25 with a strike-rate of 156, including five fifties - and his 103 against New Zealand - in nine games. He has scored five T20 centuries in his entire career, more than any other batsman in the squad. Malan put on 182 with captain Eoin Morgan in Napier but after the game the captain criticised his failure to take a bye off the final ball of the innings, suggesting he was selfishly trying to protect his average. Malan argues he did not spot the run was available. It reveals the high standards Morgan demands but was still a surprising criticism of a player who had just scored a hundred. Malan’s suspicion his face does not fit was hinted at in his column for Sky Sports two weeks ago. “I know I need to score runs – and with an average over 57 and a strike rate over 150 in my nine T20Is, I don’t know what else I can do to break into the team for the T20 World Cup,” he wrote. “I don’t know how you can be under pressure with numbers like that, even though I know the strength of the competition for places. I feel I have to score every chance I get as I don’t have the leeway that the established members of the side do. I need to churn out runs every time in order to get that leeway.” Malan has been told to be patient by England and reassured the decision is not personal, just a reflection of their strength as a batting side. England believe Malan has to bat in the top three and is wasted at six where Denly is likely to bat on Friday. Denly offers the option of bowling leg-spin, whereas Malan is seen as one-dimensional player at six. Denly, however, did not bowl on Wednesday night and had a poor game in the field. Jos Buttler, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow were described by Morgan after the East London game as “probably three of the finest batsmen in white-ball cricket we’ve ever produced”, so Malan faces a long wait. England have 11 Twenty20 matches, including Friday"s game, before the World Cup in October and appear settled on their line-up already. They are intent on sticking with Buttler as an opener, believing they have to give their best Twenty20 batsman the opportunity to face as many deliveries as possible. It is a sensible policy but he is also the best ‘finisher’ in the team, one of few players capable of hitting his first ball for six when coming in at the end of an innings, usually to face spin when the pressure is on. Buttler opening the batting is in keeping with England’s philosophy to constantly attack or “keep pushing boundaries”, as coach Chris Silverwood explained earlier this week. Holding him back for the final push would be negative in their mind, even though it would allow Roy and Bairstow to open together. They have a natural understanding, run brilliantly between the wickets and feed off each other’s confidence, skills that have made them England’s finest-ever ODI partnership. Add in Malan and England have more options to open, or bat in the top three, than they do to chase down runs in the final overs. Even Stokes needs a few balls to calibrate to the conditions and find his touch. He struggled on Wednesday night, making four off seven balls and becoming one of five batsmen dismissed in the last 14 balls of the innings. Where Buttler bats is going to be the debate that runs until the World Cup starts on Oct 26. With Tom Banton lurking on the sidelines, Malan may have been squeezed out altogether by then. Team details England: Roy, Buttler, Bairstow, Morgan, Stokes, Denly, Moeen, T Curran, Jordan, Rashid, Wood. South Africa: Bavuma, De Kock, van der Dussen, Miller, Smuts, Phehlukweyo, Pretorius, Hendricks, Steyn, Ngidi.