Anderson wrecks South Africa

Posted by rukshanshamilk Sunday, November 29, 2009


7 overs England 31 for 0 (Trott 20*, Strauss 8*) need another 89 runs to beat South Africa 119 (Petersen 51, Anderson 5-23) England's bowlers, led by the admirable James Anderson, bounced back in impressive style following their mauling at Newlands on Friday, routing the reinvigorated South Africans for 119 in 36.5 overs of the fourth ODI at Port Elizabeth. Anderson, whose participation had been in doubt due to a knee injury, produced the first five-wicket haul of his ODI career as England gave themselves a golden opportunity to reclaim the lead in the five-match series, with just the final ODI in Durban to follow next Friday. By the interval, they were cruising on 31 for 0 after seven overs.

After encountering perfect batting conditions at Newlands, in which his batsmen had rampaged to 354 for 6, Graeme Smith was very content to bat first after winning the toss once again. Andrew Strauss, however, admitted he had been tempted to bowl anyway, on a grassy pitch and under some appreciable cloud-cover. Sure enough, his seam bowlers, led by Anderson, made full use of the conditions.

As is so often the case, the early scalp of Smith was to prove critical to the momentum of both sides. After serving up a first-ball wide, Stuart Broad found a fuller length with his second legitimate delivery, and trapped Smith lbw for 2 as he fell across his stumps. Though Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers were subsequently served up a range of short balls to get their respective innings up and running, the need to pitch the ball up was soon drummed into the bowlers, with devastating effect.

Amla came into this game with a brace of half-centuries to his name, but he couldn't build on that record, as Anderson kept the ball right up to the bat, and Graeme Swann was perfectly positioned to intercept a wristy flick to short midwicket. Four overs later, JP Duminy gifted Anderson his second scalp, as he misjudged the pace of a slower-ball bouncer, and looped a gloved pull into the grateful hands of Matt Prior behind the stumps.

De Villiers, South Africa's form batsman following his scintillating 121 at Newlands, betrayed his team's uncertainty with a sketchy innings that might have ended on 9 from 19 balls when he drove loosely at Broad but bisected the two men lurking in the covers. Instead, he was nailed lbw in Tim Bresnan's first over of the match, a full-length delivery that Hawkeye suggested would have taken out leg stump.

Luke Wright, one of England's best bowlers of the series to date, loosened the shackles a fraction as Alviro Petersen and Mark Boucher clubbed him for two fours each in consecutive overs, en route to a 23-run stand for the fifth wicket that seemed to have steadied South Africa's jitters. But then, back came Anderson for another spell, and after a run of 15 consecutive dot-balls had been broken by a single to fine-leg, he struck with the fifth ball of his new spell, a beautiful full-length outswinger that took the edge of Boucher's off stump.

Ryan McLaren, struggling for form and smarting after a first-ball duck in the run-glut at Newlands, then deepened South Africa's gloom by taking on a hint of width from Anderson, and smearing a sharp chance straight to Paul Collingwood at backward point, and as Strauss sensibly decided to let his star bowler complete his quota of overs, he was rewarded with the scalp of Johan Botha, who flinched at a beautiful lifter outside off, and gazed an edge through to Prior.

Anderson's spell duly came to an end after 27 overs - 10-2-23-5 - and with South Africa reeling at 85 for 7, all that remained was the mopping-up of the tail. Collingwood, whose bowling has been a revelation on this tour so far, duly claimed the 100th wicket of his career, courtesy of a Collingwood-esque catch from Strauss, as Wayne Parnell heaved a cut to his left at backward point.

Petersen, who has cemented his place in South Africa's middle-order with scores of 64 and 51 not out in his previous two innings, demonstrated a cool head for a crisis with his third half-century in a row. But he couldn't bat at both ends at once, and though Morne Morkel drove Collingwood handsomely down the ground for four, he was nailed lbw from round the wicket in the same over - a marginal decision that Hawkeye nevertheless suggested was correct.

A mowed four through cow corner carried Petersen past fifty, but with just the dubious talents of Charl Langeveldt alongside him, he was obliged to chance his arm, and with one ball remaining of the 37th over, he advanced down the pitch to Broad and took on the long-on boundary. But Wright at mid-on timed his leap to perfection and plucked a stunning full-stretch chance with the fingertips of his right hand. It summed up England's day, as South Africa were rolled over for their lowest-ever total in a home ODI.

The only way South Africa were going to get back into the contest was by claiming quick wickets in the seven overs available to them before the scheduled interval, but Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott picked off 31 runs without alarm, with Trott in particular displaying some excellent timing as he reached 20 not out with four fours.

0 comments

Post a Comment

Cricket Schedule

categories

Photo Gallery

Video Post

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Local Time & Date

Live Cricket Score

Join me on Twitter

free counters