 South Africa will host England in the fourth game of the ODI series at
Port Elizabeth on Sunday. The hosts had beaten England in the third match of the
series by a crushing margin of 112 runs to equal the series at 1-1 and with two
games to go, it could b anybody's series for now.
Click for Live Score Card of England vs South AfricaThe South Africa needed a strong performance from both, their batsmen
and their bowlers to come back into the series after they were virtually outplayed
in all departments of the game in the second ODI. And they did just that thanks
to half centuries from Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla and Alviro Petersen,
to support AB de Villiers' magnificent century. The top order looks to be gelling
well for now, and looks one of the strongest on paper, what with the JP Duminy
yet to strike form.
In fact, Duminy will look to make the next few games count after he had gone
into the series with a lot of runs under his belt. And with Herschelle Gibbs
waiting in the squad, and Petersen striking form with successive half centuries,
it could get interesting for the English bowlers at Port Elizabeth.
Having said that, the English looked to have made some changes to batting line-up
for some strange reasons and suffered because of that. Luke Wright had
been pushed up to open the innings, despite the presence of Jonathon Trott who
had done it remarkably well in the previous game. Such inconsistency is always
the root cause of all the problems, and another change in the batting order
for the next game could peg them back further.
Paul Collingwood continues to top score for his side, and has run into a good
run of form for now. He will be the batsman to watch out for, as the South African
bowlers have failed to get through the defences of the solid, experience of
Paul Collingwood. Eoin Morgan failed in the previous game, but the selectors
and the team management will keep the faith in a talented youngster like him,
whereas Stuart Broad's return to the side saw him get four wickets and hence
will augur well for the side.
On the other hand, the South Africans saw Wayne Parnell returning back
to the side in place of Albie Morkel and immediately reaping benefits; he scalped
a five wicket haul to send the English side on the back foot. With Dale Steyn
looking a bit under pressure, negotiating Parnell's spell will be the visitors'
biggest concern.
|
