Ravi Bopara
Who says that ODI’s are not interesting? Perhaps this World Cup is proving a point to all those who believed in the fact that the ODI’s were losing the spark with the emergence of T20 cricket, that even 50 over games can be interesting if played on pitches were sporting and evenly balanced for the bat and the ball.
Today the match between England and South Africa produced another thriller which actually has turned the tournament more open. England had won the toss and decided to bat first. South African captain decided to open the bowling with Peterson, the left arm spinning all-rounder. It was essentially due to his namesake (Kevin) Pieterson’s vulnerability towards left arm spinners.
Fortunately for Smith the plan worked and not only did he manage to pick up Pieterson’s wicket but also the English captain Strauss in the very first over. Bell too departed soon to a delivery by Peterson and England were in deep trouble with 15 runs for the loss of 3 wickets on the board.
However Trott (52) and Bopara (60) steadied the innings and took the total to 114 in 29.5 overs before Trott lost his wicket to Tahir. England were hoping to put on a competitive score however failed to capitalize on the efforts of Bopara and Trott and were bowled out for 171 in 45.4 overs.
The match looked thoroughly one-sided at this stage with advantage for South Africa. Smith and Amla gave a solid start to South Africa and it seemed that the match would soon be over without much resistance from England. South Africa lost their first wicket in the 15th over that of Smith (22) with 63 runs on the board. Soon in the next three overs South Africa lost two consecutive wickets in the form of Amla (42) and Kallis (15).
Again AB de Villiers and F du Plessis put on a partnership which looked like going till the end. But in the 32nd and 33rd overs South Africa lost both the batsmen, leaving them 5 wickets down with 124 runs on the board. Anderson and Yardy picked one wicket each and the Proteas were at a score of 7-127.
Steyn and van Wyk provided some good resistance and took the score to 160 in the 47th over. The ‘Chokers’ as they are popularly called for their choking at the crucial moments of tournaments, at least choked on this occasion. With just 12 runs required of 23 balls with 3 wickets still in hand, Broad struck with two quick wickets along with Bresnan who managed one.
South Africa had thus lost a match which was very much in their hands, while the English had managed to keep themselves alive in the tournament as well as to keep this tournament wide open.
With England’s win they now top the table of group B while India is in the fourth position. However in the event of India’s win in the match against Ireland vs India shall move to the top of the table with England at second spot. What remains to be seen is that whether the England versus Bangladesh match gives us a thriller once again. For a lover of cricket what else could be more entreating than a close match?
Tags: Cricket, ENG, England, ICC CWC 2011, Ravi Bopara, SA, South Africa, World Cup
