There are many words that one could use to describe England’s matches in the World Cup thus far, but boring certainly isn’t one of them. Having been run worryingly close by the Dutch, blown and then retrieved the run chase against India and lost to an astonishing display by the Irish there was surely no way that they could top that against a powerful looking South Africa side, but top it they did.
I must confess that I took advantage of a rare lie-in on Sunday morning, having suffered the travails of my son’s birthday party the day before, and so by the time I surfaced the game looked almost beyond redemption, South Africa being forty odd without loss in reply to England’s inadequate looking 171. Now I realise that, obviously, I was just saving myself for the good bit.
England’s innings was a curious affair. Trott and Bopara both batted well in their contrasting styles but that aside it was a bit of a shambles. Graeme Smith’s decision to open the bowling with Robin Peterson was inspired, for surely not even he could have imagined taking two wickets in the first over, and Imran Tahir knocked over the tail to continue his impressive World Cup. The track certainly wasn’t a road like some of the others that we have seen in the tournament but even so the consensus was that England were fifty or so short of a competitive total.
Hashim Amla batted beautifully (not a word that could ever be used to describe Graeme Smith) and South Africa got off to the kind of solid start that was needed. It wasn’t entirely without alarms, especially with Graeme Swann turning the ball square, but a first wicket partnership of sixty-three was a solid platform from which victory should have been straightforward. Even when Amla played on to Broad and Kallis, who had looked in superb touch, nicked behind, De Villiers and Du Plessis survived reasonably comfortably to 124-3, a position which looked unassailable.
The wicket that turned the game on its head was a strange one, Jimmy Anderson just trimming AB De Villers’ bails, to the extent that the batsman wanted a replay to confirm what had happened. At 124-4 South Africa were still firmly in the box seat, but their best batsman, who had made two hundreds in the tournament so far, had gone. A short period of stability was what South Africa needed, but a short period of chaos is what ensued.
First Du Plessis turned the ball to short leg (and how often can you write those words in describing a one day international?), overbalanced and was run out by smart work from Bell and Prior. Then Duminy, dubiously reprieved for a caught behind on review (a series of events that further exposed the failure to use Hotspot as part of the UDRS for this tournament), had his off stump torn out of the ground by a swinging yorker from Anderson. With Yardy having Peterson caught behind South Africa were suddenly 127-7 and in trouble.
Steyn and van Wyk regrouped sensibly and at 160-7 with plenty of time to spare it looked as though they had done enough to win the game. They had reckoned, however, without England’s quick bowlers. First Bresnan forced van Wyk to play on and then Broad had Steyn leg before and Morkel caught behind in the space of four balls to complete a famous victory.
So, where now for these two sides? Perversely, it may be the making of South Africa. Too often sides who have it easy in the early stages struggle when put under pressure in the knockout stages, but they will have learned a lot about themselves from this game. As for England, the victory has re-ignited their tournament, but the loss of Kevin Pietersen and Stuart Broad for the rest of the tournament is a massive blow. Morgan and Tremlett are both good replacements but there is no doubt that this leaves them weaker. For what it’s worth, I would move Bopara up to open and bring in Morgan at number five, although his form in Australia was less than stellar. As for the bowling, Shahzad or Tremlett will replace Broad and they may also consider replacing Yardy, who has bowled ordinarily, with Tredwell. As for me, I would welcome a comfortable victory over Bangladesh, if only for the sake of my blood pressure.
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