England crush South Africa

Eurosport - Sun, 22 Nov 07:32:00 2009

England got their noses in front in the one day international series with an impressive seven-wicket win over South Africa at Centurion.

england celebrate after paul cllingwood catch against south africa - 0

The tourists produced a solid effort with the ball to restrict South Africa to 250 for 9 on a pitch the Proteas smashed 241 in a Twenty20 the previous week.

England lost Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen early in their run chase and it may have affected them in the past, but they now have a firm underbelly and Jonathan Trott and Paul Collingwood guided England to a superb win with four overs to spare.

England had no hesitation in opting to field first and Tim Bresnan bowled with real control and composure early on and was rewarded with the wicket of Graeme Smith who edged to Strauss at first slip.

James Anderson was extremely wayward with the ball, but claimed the prize wicket of AB de Villiers. The wicket owed everything to Collingwood, as De Villiers climbed into a short ball that whistled off the middle of the bat, but Collingwood flung himself to his left to take a stunning low diving catch.

Hashim Amla and JP Duminy set about steadying the ship and built a 50 partnership with some confident batting.

Duminy crashed 14 off an over from Adil Rashid and looked set to cut loose, only to edge behind to Matt Prior off Luke Wright, who was rewarded for some excellent bowling, looking to guide the ball to third man and fell for a well constructed 41.

Amla was charged with the task of replacing the injured Jacques Kallis ahead of the more flamboyant Herschelle Gibbs and he took his chance with an excellent half-century.

Strauss turned to Collingwood and the Durham man claimed the key wicket of Amla for 57, with Strauss taking a simple catch at cover a ball after Collingwood had spilled a tough chance off his own bowling.

With Rashid's three overs going for 27, Strauss turned to the untested arm of Trott and it proved to be a tactical masterstroke. He bowled with great control and his miserly spell applied the pressure which brought wickets at the other end.

Collingwood and Anderson took a wicket apiece, Albie Morkel and Ryan McLaren respectively, while bowling in tandem with Trott.

The Proteas were in real bother when Morkel departed but Alviro Petersen (64) and Mark Boucher (30no) came together and added 40 runs to secure a foothold.

They were helped by a couple of dropped catches and some sloppy pieces of fielding, but England looked to have the upper hand at lunch with South Africa restricted to 250.

England made a bright start in pursuit of their target and Strauss looked in prime form with a couple of dismissive boundaries, but got through a flick to midwicket far too early off Charl Langeveldt and offered a simple catch to De Villiers.

Pietersen came in and played one glorious shot for four, but went to repeat the trick and dragged on to his leg stump off Morkel.

That, though, was as good as it got for South Africa as Trott and Collingwood took the game away from the Proteas with some wonderful batting.

Trott is emerging as a key figure for England and he added to his stock with a wonderfully-crafted 87.

He shared in a 162-run partnership with Collingwood as the pair made the Proteas attack look ordinary.

Trott fell 13 short of his century but Collingwood (105) passed three figures as he and Eoin Morgan (27no) steered England to their sixth successive ODI win over South Africa.

Eurosport

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  1. Sorry Folks back to the Cricket !
    Noticed Jawardene [­ sorry if i spelt his name wrong ] has jus got his 9000­ runs,
    Congrats and respect, top bloke.
    Pitches though­ do help, jus think what KP or J,Kallis would be at iff­ they had been brought up there, MIND BOGGLING !!!

    From MARK, on Mon 23 Nov 4:29PM

  2. I am on the site an will check u out later : ]]

    From MARK, on Mon 23 Nov 4:22PM

  3. HI Zoe , I AM 6 FT 4 , and I think ur a real looker !

    From MARK, on Mon 23 Nov 4:20PM

  4. Haha...I to have known a ''Trevor'' in­ my lifetime..The one I knew was a particularly­ irksome.bespectacled little fellow, who came complete­ with a green anorak...a true neighbour from hell if­ ever there was one... strangely his speciallity was­ poking his nose in nose in where it wasn't wanted­ :-D

    From ricmeo67, on Mon 23 Nov 4:06PM

  5. I knew someone like Trevor the huntsman.She thought she­ was the Queen of Russia.I didn't like to say­ anything however,in case she had me carted off to a­ gulag.
    John,Spain.
    ps.40 over games still being played­ here,life is tough,eh?

    From John, on Mon 23 Nov 1:43PM

  6. #37, nice one Trevor! Thank you! Love the name by the­ way.... there’s a chap in the village where I live­ named Trevor. They banned fox hunting but that doesn’t­ stop our Trevor. Every now and again he puts on his­ little red coat, mounts his nag and goes tearing around­ the fields chasing imaginary foxes with imaginary­ friends. I always raise a glass to him for he is a man­ who knows how to enjoy life.

    From nocohere, on Mon 23 Nov 1:14PM

  7. Don't worry about us,Nocohere,we're all big­ lads!Keep up the good work!
    John,Spain.

    From John, on Mon 23 Nov 1:04PM

  8. I would like to say this in fairness to those that have­ spoken out. My posts are written with a view that they­ may raise a smile or an eyebrow, both preferably, but­ contempt towards others is definitely not their­ purpose, most certainly not. However, when good people­ stand up and speak out and as a consequence become­ subject to toilet mouth vitriol that is another matter­ entirely. When that happens, one really does have to­ evaluate what one is doing.

    From nocohere, on Mon 23 Nov 12:52PM

  9. Sad to see that the cricket board has finally sunken to­ the level of the football threads, though i suppose­ that it had to happen eventually......Brian, where were­ you when nocohere the rest of us were commenting on the­ Ashes series and commenting even long before that on­ cricketing matters in general? Counting the amount of­ "thumbs up" and "thumbs down"­ across the Eurosport threads would be my guess.

    How­ terribly small minded you must be.......If you want to­ partake in name calling and spouting bile, back to the­ football forum, there's a good lad.

    From roy, on Mon 23 Nov 11:47AM

  10. Why would anyone be interested in a deluded chump­ broadcasting network?

    From Trevor, on Mon 23 Nov 10:18AM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    UCB UK from United Christian Broadcasters. Broadcasting­ Nationally
    On DAB Digital Radio From 1st December 2009­ and on the internet right now!! at ucbmedia dot co dot­ uk

    From John, on Mon 23 Nov 9:38AM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    interested in african football, players etc? visit­ africaplays.come
    interested in african football,­ players etc? visit africaplays.come

    From Second S, on Mon 23 Nov 9:34AM

  13. Just want to echo ricmeo post 27. I too would be­ disappointed if Brain took his bat and ball­ elsewhere.As they used to say about dear old­ Shane,"his performance was always worth the­ weight!".
    A West Indian quick once said to me he­ would knock my head off except he couldn't see it­ against the sightscreen.Racism? Of course not !Just one­ example of wit without which the game would be­ infinitely poorer.
    John,Spain.

    From John, on Mon 23 Nov 7:29AM

  14. well done england made us proud

    From abhk a, on Mon 23 Nov 5:32AM

  15. Great win for England, hope we can keep it up.
    just one­ point, I know A.Cook is injured at moment and seems to­ be lined up as next England skipper, but I hope I never­ see him picked for the one day team again , just not­ cut out for it [ decent fielder he may be but he aint a­ one day batsman , no way ]

    From MARK, on Mon 23 Nov 12:16AM

  16. Oh dear this doesn't sound good nocohere, dont let­ one brainless idiot get you down, i for one would miss­ hearing your thoughts on the days events out in the­ middle... I know Brain applied for a Kenyan passport­ the other day...but we all hope he doesn't­ disappear to God knows where....just yet

    From ricmeo67, on Sun 22 Nov 11:40PM

  17. I’m sorry I really did not anticipate or see this­ coming. Perhaps I should have done. I can say only­ this. A sense of humour is fruitless if the unforeseen­ consequences influence and impact on people in such a­ fashion, those that smile and those that do not know­ how too. That is it I suppose. Nocohere has no meaning­ whatsoever an Brain Worn was a nice chap. Good night.

    From nocohere, on Sun 22 Nov 10:43PM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I cant understand how on earth Mahmoud and Rashid are­ in the side!!! they got slaughtered in the last 20/20­ and got bashed about today. these 2 should not be­ anywhere near englands first team and are very weak­ players!!! i just cant understand why they are in the­ squad? we have much better players than these 2 and­ the side would be really strong without them.

    From cnjlovell, on Sun 22 Nov 10:02PM

  19. Wow things definately getting out of hand on here­ tonite.... all i can say is what an amazing performance­ by the team today, firstly with the ball, and then an­ exceptional exhibition of batting by Collie and­ Trott.... Brian I dont know which stone you have­ crawled out from under,but do us all a favour and go­ get back under it there's a good lad.....I like­ John in Spain, have enjoyed exchanging thoughts with­ nocohere since the Ashes series last summer......­ particularly enjoy the Brain Worn interviews, but then­ you do have to possess a modicom of intellect to get­ it....eh

    From ricmeo67, on Sun 22 Nov 8:38PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Bobito, whatever avatar you use, you look like a­ monkey. You can now sign in again as nocohere

    From Brian, on Sun 22 Nov 8:00PM
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