South Africa v England: ODIs - Here we go again: English wilt feeds blooming Proteas

 

South Africa v England: ODIs

Here we go again: English wilt feeds blooming Proteas

 

February 13^th  2016

 

We had a Test series in which the initiative swung wildly from side to side. Now we have a One Day series that is doing the same. The events of last night will have done little to diminish South African thoughts that they were robbed in the 2^nd ODI and, one has to sympathise. When South Africa found themselves needing 53 from 51 balls with only two wickets left, you would have staked Geoff Boycott’s mortgage on England winning. Two balls later, Chris Morris lobbed a gentle catch to Adil Rashid on the boundary and the match was over – except that Adil Rashid made such a mess of it that South Africa could run a comfortable two and Morris was off.

Previously, Hales had dropped Duminy on 1 at 67-3. Roy dropped AB de Villiers on 9 at 76-3. Duminy scored 31 and lasted until 143-5 and de Villiers made 36 and lasted until 121-4. On straight runs conceded, the drops cost 105 runs. Once again, chances missed have proved to be very expensive. In the 2^nd Test you can argue that dropped chances cost England the win. Here, they were the difference between a big margin of victory and a narrow defeat.

In the 3^rd ODI England had an off day and revived South Africa in the series when they could have buried them. Here, it seemed that England’s game plan was to ensure that the series would go to an exciting finale on Sunday. Every time England were ahead in the match, they let South Africa back in. Jeeves himself could not have been so accommodating. While Jason Roy has had an eminently forgettable series apart from his 48 in the 1^st ODI – his ultra-fast starts have usually been ultra-brief too – he is yet to reach the ninth over of the innings in any of the matches, Alex Hales has gone from strength to strength: 57, 99 65, & 50. No doubt he will be castigated by the fans for “getting in and getting out”, or “getting set, but not going on to a big score”, but he is having a remarkable series that can only do his confidence good. His 99 was marked by battling through on a less than easy pitch. The 57 in the 1^st ODI was a more brutal effort with 6x4 and 2x6, leaving the England score on 130 after just 17.4 overs when he got out. Last night, it was a re-building effort with Joe Root after Jason Roy, once again, got out quickly.

With England 87-1 before the last ball of the eighteenth over, Hales on 50 and Root batting serenely on 26 and the scoring rate accelerating nicely, the sights were on a total well over 300, with 350+ on the cards. The groundsman’s words that this was a 400-pitch looked all too predictive. Nothing though seems to be straightforward for either side. England’s healthy 87-1 became a ruinous 108-6 in just 35 balls and the prospect of an early finish looked all too real. In vain you could point out that the MEDIAN completed innings score in Day/Night matches at this ground was just 213 – in other words, half the completed innings in day/nighters at the ground have been under 213. In fact, three times sides have won with totals under 200.

Still England could have put the match out of reach. First Root and Woakes, then Root and Adil Rashid threatened to get England up to 280-290, which would have taken a lot of chasing. 258-8. Eighteen balls to go. Adil Rashid batting beautifully. Stuart Broad only needed to push the singles and let Adil Rashid finish the job. Wild heave. Thanks very much. England left 13 balls unused.

Still England had a chance to close the match out. 263 would be the third biggest chase under lights at the Wanderers. Stuart Broad castled Amla for a duck in the first over and England could not have got a better start. The next six batsmen all got to 20, but none could pass 38. At 210-8 it should have been all over, but then came Chris Morris.

England had made a big call by bringing back Stuart Broad. It looked like a mistake. It was a mistake. 7-0-55-1 were by far the most expensive on either side. Although he can still bat in a Test when he has time to play himself in, or a licence to take a swing, here his contribution was negligible; in fact it was harmful. Maybe Chris Jordan afforded himself a wry smile.

South Africa now have the initiative in the series, They have several players in prime form and the side is coming together nicely. Even if England manage to change the momentum of the series yet again and win the final match, probably it will be South Africa the happier side.