Stuart Broad insisted England could cope with the spin-friendly pitches they will face when defending their World Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka after a thumping loss to South Africa.

England fell 1-0 behind in a three-match 'warm-up' series for this month's World Twenty20 after a seven-wicket defeat by the Proteas at Chester-le-Street on Saturday.

Sent into bat, England could only manage 7-118 - their third lowest Twenty20 total.

Opener Craig Kieswetter made 25 and the next best scores were the 18 not outs of both Twenty20 captain Broad and fellow lower order batsman Graeme Swann.

Fast bowler Dale Steyn (1-13 from four overs) was named man of the match, but the fact South Africa spinners Johan Botha and Robin Peterson shared four wickets between them, several the result of poor shots, would have concerned the England management.

Eoin Morgan played on heaving across the line against Botha and Jos Buttler, hailed as one of England's most promising batsmen, charged down the pitch before being bowled by left-armer Peterson.

"We didn't play the spin especially well today. But we've got good players of spin in there," said Broad.

"'Morgs' is a fantastic player of spin. We've seen him dominate it in the past - it just didn't come off for us today.

"Jos Buttler in training hits the ball further than anyone.

"We want guys to have the freedom to go for that boundary option. You don't want to curb that enthusiasm too much.

"But obviously today it didn't work out for us, and we need to put that right in a very short turnaround," Broad added ahead of Monday's second match of the series in Manchester.

"I think one thing we have to be very aware of is you win games of Twenty20 cricket with numbers eight, nine, 10 and 11 not batting."

England are heading to Sri Lanka without Kevin Pietersen, man of the tournament when they won the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean two years ago, as the star batsman's international exile continues following his banishment after sending "provocative texts" to South African players earlier in the season.

South Africa captain AB de Villiers said his side's three-wicket win over England was an encouraging sign ahead of this month's World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.

"Definitely, it's very similar to what we are expecting," said de Villiers, when asked if victory boded well for the team's chances at the upcoming tournament.

"There was a little bit of turn, it was quite slowish. It was really good preparation."

South Africa failed to make the semi-finals when England won the World Twenty20 two years ago.